- BBC Midlands Today colleague read out emotional messages, prompting tears
- The 76-year-old was awarded an MBE for services to charity and broadcasting
Veteran BBC presenter Nick Owen broke down on air as he discussed his cancer battle with colleagues and received a touching message from his son.
Paying tribute to work that saw the 76-year-old awarded an MBE earlier this year, BBC Midlands Today colleague Ben Godfrey read out a selection of messages that caused Mr Owen to well up.
A message from bereavement charity Edward’s Trust said: ‘He’s become part of our family. He’s always found time to support us in our work His MBE is well deserved.’
Another message said: ‘I got tested myself after his illness and was diagnosed late last year with prostate cancer. So far, it looks like early detection has paid off.’
Nick’s own son, Tim, said ‘very proud of you Dad’, as the TV stalwart stifled sobs.
The broadcaster was overwhelmed by the tribute
He has been praised for raising cancer awareness
‘My Tim… oh bless you. And I do want to thank everyone who’s been in touch, you know, and so supportive’, Mr Owen managed to add.
‘And I’m so grateful that people have responded to the message in the first place about prostate cancer because that’s such an important thing.
‘People are talking about it far more now. Not just because of me, but various people have been in the same situation.’
The former TV-am host has been was battling ‘extensive’ and ‘aggressive’ prostate cancer in August, and has since been successfully treated.
He previously told the Deadly Silent Podcast: ‘I’ve been through the middle of it. And I realised that the sooner you get seen the better.
‘We had an MRI, there was a hint there was something going on. Then I had a biopsy. And that would tell us that it was really nasty and aggressive. And we need to do something quickly.
He was rewarded for his work with a recent MBE
The messages included one from his own son
He shed tears of happiness during the interview
He admits his first decision was to tell his four adult children, three of them boys, so they could be aware of the potentially hereditary illness and its warning signs
‘Telling my children was difficult. I’ve got four children, three are our boys, two in their forties and one in their late thirties, and it was quite emotional.’
He added: ‘Also, as far as the boys [Andy, Tim and Chris] are concerned, it’s a warning because it can be a hereditary thing.
‘I’m very keen for my boys to be extremely on the case. I’ll work on them to go earlier than 50, to be honest, to have the PSA tests. And the message has to be if you have got any hint of a worry, get someone to look at it.’
Owen received his diagnosis just weeks after his former TV-am co-presenter Anne Diamond, 68, revealed she is battling breast cancer and has undergone a mastectomy.
Along with their stint on TV-am, the pair had their own current affairs morning programme on the BBC in the 1990s, Good Morning With Anne And Nick.
Speaking about the debilitating impact the condition has had on his life, he has said: ‘I went to a specialist, he wasn’t too worried because my figures weren’t that high.
‘But he decided I ought to have a scan, and then the scan said there’s something dodgy going on, and then he sent me for a biopsy, which he did.
‘And the results of that were the killer – on April the 13th, a date (which) will forever be imprinted on my mind.