In 2016, NBC News correspondent Kristen Dahlgren covered a story on breast cancer. One of the women she interviewed revealed she had been diagnosed only after insisting on a second opinion. This story stuck with Kristen. Later in 2019, months after receiving a negative mammogram result, Kristen noticed something unusual during a self-exam. Despite being on location covering a hurricane in North Carolina, she went to a local hospital for a mammogram and ultrasound in between live shots. She finished her report for NBC Nightly News and flew home. She later learned she had been diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer.

In this article from Coping Magazine, Kristen discusses how she credits that 2016 story with saving her life, why she decided to disclose her diagnosis publicly, her passion for journalism and plans to continue working. She says, “it’s my goal to just be surrounded by people I love and help as many people as I can through my work.”

To read more about Kristen, click here.