Anne Diamond seen for first time since sharing her breast cancer diagnosis

25 October 2023 , 14:10

1046     0

Anne Diamond has been awarded an OBE for her services to public health and to charity (Image: PA)

GB News presenter Anne Diamond has been pictured for the first time since revealing she has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The 69-year old announced in June that she'd secretly been battling the disease for months and had undergone a double masectomy. Anne decided to open up about her health after viewers had speculated over the reason for her absence from the right-wing broadcaster.

"I haven't been on a world cruise, which is what I know social media has been saying," she said in frustration at the time. "I'm well known now for loving cruises. It hasn't been a world cruise." She continued: "It's been a fight against breast cancer. That's what it's been. It's been a long journey. And five months later, I'm still not at the end of the journey, but I'm through it enough to come back to work."

It's the first time Anne has been seen since she revealed her breast cancer diagnosis (PA)

The tragic death of Anne's four-month old son in 1991 sparked her incredible life-saving campaign (EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS)

In much happier circumstances, meanwhile, Anne, who began her career as a reporter for BBC West in Bristol, was snapped after being made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on Wednesday. The honour, which she received at Buckingham Palace, recognises her services to public health and charity.

On learning of her award in December, Anne told the BBC: "This OBE is literally a crowning achievement to everyone who helped me and upon whose ground-breaking research my campaign was based. This is also testament that the media can be a force for good. By the government's own report, 80% of parents who got the life-saving advice got it from the TV ads.

Warning as popular food and drink ‘increase risk of cancer death by up to 30%’

"But mostly this is for Sebastian, whom we still miss, and all of those tragically lost lives." In 1991, on the day of her eldest son Oliver's fourth birthday, Anne found her son Sebastian lifeless in his cot. Sebastian had died from sudden infant death syndrome, also referred to as SIDS. He was just four-and-a-half-months old at the time.

Anne was determined to get answers and discovered that studies had found that babies sleeping on their backs were less likely to suffer cot death, which wasn't offered as advice by the UK government at the time. Anne decided to rally the government before creating the Back To Sleep campaign, advising parents that babies should sleep on their backs – which was against the health advice at the time. Following the campaign the rate of cot deaths dropped dramatically from 2,500 a year to just 300.

Alan Johnson