Dermot Murnaghan has said his family are “coping really well” with his cancer diagnosis as he continues to receive treatment.
The veteran broadcaster and former Sky News presenter, 67, announced that he had been diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer in June, telling followers that he was “responding positively” to treatment.
Prostate cancer is entirely curable if caught early through a routine PSA test. However, Murnaghan’s cancer was too advanced for doctors to treat his prostate alone.
“I don’t want to share too much about [what is happening to me],” he told The Telegraph. “But it’s stage four. And the treatment is punchy and aggressive. They hit you with the kitchen sink.”
“It blindsides you,” he said of the diagnosis. “It was coming up to Christmas and the children were all coming home. It’s like a gut punch. I can only imagine the effect on them.”
He said a “huge part” of the mental process of dealing with his illness was asking himself: “What have you laid on them, you fool?”
Since the news, Murnaghan has been working as an ambassador for Prostate Cancer Research in a bid to increase public awareness of the need for screenings for high-risk groups.
“If only I had got diagnosed at an earlier stage, all that hurt and worry I could have saved them,” he said. “I can’t take it away, but they are coping really well. They’ve been beyond excellent to me.”
About one in eight men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime, according to Prostate Cancer UK, and the disease often has no symptoms in its earlier stages.
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Murnaghan told The Telegraph that his instant thought upon receiving his diagnosis was, “What a fool I am.”
“I’ve been sitting on sofas talking to people about health stories throughout my career. I was very aware of prostate cancer and the importance of the PSA test.
“I just thought, ‘Oh, I’ll get round to it.’ And when I did have the test, in that moment at hospital, it was horrendous. Of course, the levels were off the scale.”
Before joining Sky News, Murnaghan presented ITV’s News at Ten and the BBC Ten O’Clock News (now the BBC News at Ten) as well as Channel 4 News.
He also presented the true crime documentary series Killer Britain, and hosts the podcast Legends of News.