Michael Strahan has shared the heartbreaking thing his daughter Isabella told him during her brain cancer treatment.
The 53-year-old TV host’s daughter revealed in January 2024 that she was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer, medulloblastoma.
In a new interview, he explained that after she got her tumor removed she underwent a round of chemotherapy, which took a toll on her body. Still, Isabella kept her spirits up.
“She wasn’t eating much. She was thin and tired and bald and all the things you hate to see your kid go through,” he told People in an interview published on Wednesday (January 22). “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 knew she wouldn’t quit,” he added about his daughter. “She was going to fight — and she did.”
After documenting her cancer journey on YouTube last year, Isabella, 20, is now focused on her studies, majoring in communications at the University of Southern California.
While she’s now cancer-free, which she announced in July, she’ll continue to get scans done every three months for the next two to three years. After that, she’ll get scans every six months to a year.
The Good Morning America host noted that while his daughter is in good shape, he’s still on edge when she goes to the doctor.
“Her doctors feel very confident, she’s going to be fine,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to hold on to, but you’re nervous every time. That will never go away but as long as the results come back positive, then we’ll live to fight another day.”
Weighing in, Isabella said: “Obviously you can’t predict what will happen and that’s a little scary. But I don’t think you can solely live in fear. I think I should live every day. Take every opportunity. I see the impact that can come from sharing my experience. I want to be a voice.”
In January 2024, Isabella appeared on Good Morning America to publicly share her diagnosis. She said that she was undergoing treatment for the cancerous brain tumor, which develops in the lower back part of the brain called the cerebellum.
She noted that she was diagnosed with medulloblastoma in October 2023 after she began experiencing headaches during her first semester as a freshman at USC. “I’m feeling good, not too bad,” she said at the time. “I’m very excited for this whole process to wrap, but you just have to keep living every day, I think, through the whole thing.”
The college student initially thought she was suffering from vertigo, but when she woke up one morning and began throwing up blood, Isabella was encouraged by her family to seek medical attention.
After receiving an MRI scan, doctors discovered Isabella had developed a four-centimeter tumor growing in the back of her brain, sized larger than a golf ball.
She then continued to document her cancer journey on YouTube, sharing a video of her and her family in the hospital in June last year as she celebrated her last round of chemotherapy. In the video, she was filmed walking down the hall of the hospital while her loved ones threw pieces of confetti.
Michael also shared a video of the celebration on Instagram along with a sweet message about his daughter in the caption. “@isabellastrahan you are a SUPERWOMAN! Ringing that bell finishing chemo and on your way!” the news anchor wrote. “You continue to fight with a smile on your face, strength, and determination. I am one proud Dad! Love you, Bella.”
One month later, she shared a video of herself in a car as she detailed the results of her scans, revealing that she was cancer-free.
“It was a great, great scan,” she explained in the clip, shared in July. “Everything was clear. Cancer-free and everything is great. I don’t have another doctor’s appointment until October.”
Along with Isabella, Michael and his ex-wife Jean Muggli have a 21-year-old daughter, Sophia. The NFL alum and his first ex-wife, Wanda Hutchins, also share two children: Tatiana, 33, and Michael Strahan Jr., 30.
