Michael Strahan has described his daughter’s cancer diagnosis as ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’ as he discussed her recovery from the disease.
Isabella Strahan was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in October 2023 when she was just 19 years old, before being declared cancer-free the following summer.
And while the college student and daughter of the former Giants star is now working her way back, Good Morning America co-anchor Strahan opened up about the ordeal in a new ABC special.
‘As a parent, you’re scared,’ he said in ‘Life Interrupted’ a new special documenting Isabella’s cancer journey, which was previewed in part on GMA on Thursday. ‘Oh my, you’re just scared.’
‘It never occurred to us that it would be cancer, I’ll be honest with you, just looking at the trajectory at that point of her life — and we have no history of anything bad in the family,’ he added.
Isabella was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor that develops in the cerebellum after initially struggling to walk in a straight line.
Michael Strahan pictured with daughter Isabella in October 2023, just days before she was told she had a brain tumor
Isabella, seen with her sister Sophia, underwent rounds of chemotherapy and surgery
According to GMA, she believed she had vertigo, before becoming nauseous one day and later throwing up blood.
She eventually went to the emergency room where it was determined she had cancer, and she was promptly operated on to try and remove the tumor.
Isabella then underwent rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, as well as needing two follow-up surgeries after getting an infection from the initial operation.
‘She wasn’t eating much. She was thin and tired and bald and all the things you hate to see your kid go through,’ Strahan told People earlier this month. ‘I don’t know how she did it.
‘I was struggling myself with it. I always say that she is a lot stronger than I am.
‘Her spirit was there. One of the things she said, probably the hardest thing I had to hear was, ‘Dad I’ll do whatever. I want to live.’ I normally cry when I tell people that but I am trying to hold it together for you.’
Isabella is now cancer-free, though she still undergoes medical monitoring by doctors
Isabella documented her battle and recovery from cancer across her YouTube channel
Isabella was seen over the holidays vacationing in the Caribbean with her sister Sophia and shared pictures on social media celebrating her return to health from the Bahamas.
‘And we’re back…’ Isabella poignantly captioned the images on social media in late December.
‘My first round of chemo experience was one of the worst things I’ve done ever in my entire life,’ she also said on her YouTube channel. ‘It just felt weird getting chemo. I don’t know, you don’t really think you’re gonna get poison put through your body.’
While Isabella is now cancer-free, Strahan admitted that he has still has a sense of nervousness regarding his daughter, who is being monitored by doctors.
‘There will not be a time where she’s getting a scan where I won’t be on pins and needles,’ he said. ‘I don’t care if it’s 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now, you’ll always be nervous. And I could tell she feels it too.’
