Columbus, OH,
11
October
2016
|
14:00 PM
Europe/Amsterdam

Columbus Dispatch: Kurt Ludlow latest TV news personality to share cancer diagnosis

As we’ve shared on the OhioHealth Newsroom over the past month, ABC6/FOX28 anchor Kurt Ludlow was recently diagnosed with and treated for prostate cancer. He announced his diagnosis on air and took the opportunity to share important information with viewers including:

Ludlow even brought a photojournalist into the operating room at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital with him on surgery day to document what it’s like to go through prostate cancer surgery. That story will air at a later date.

Recently, Columbus Dispatch reporter Ken Gordon interviewed Ludlow and his physician, John Burgers, MD, about battling cancer in the public eye. Ludlow is one of a handful of central Ohio journalists to be diagnosed with cancer and have to make the decision to go public with it or not.

For Ludlow, it was an opportunity to help educate the public on a topic that is rarely discussed.

“Male cancers don’t get talked about very often, and I felt like if I could be a voice for men out there to at least go to a doctor and get checked, that’s what I wanted to do,” Ludlow told the Dispatch.

Dr. Burgers agreed it was beneficial, telling the Dispatch, “Here’s a public figure, so people will be tuning in, and now we can talk about what are some of real issues that haven’t really been out there in the news,”

Prior to having his surgery, Ludlow also hosted a phone bank during a newscast where viewers could call in to get their questions answered by OhioHealth cancer experts. Over 200 people called in during the 90 minute show and immediately after the newscast.

To read the story, click on the image of the Dispatch "Life" section.