Cancer podcast host Rachael Bland dies aged 40

BBC journalist Rachael Bland has died of cancer at the age of 40, two days after revealing that she had less than a week to live.

The Radio 5 Live presenter had been documenting her battle against breast cancer in the revealing and highly-acclaimed podcast, You, Me and the Big C, as well as an award-winning blog.

On Monday, she posted for the final time on social media, revealing that she had only “days” to live.

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Bland’s husband Steve, with whom she has a three-year-old son, shared the news that she had died at home in the early hours of the morning.

Paying tribute to “an incredibly talented broadcaster as well as a wonderful and much loved daughter, sister, aunt, niece, wife and, most importantly to her, a mother to her precious little Freddie”, he said her family and friends would miss her “more than words can say”.

“We all take such huge comfort and pride from the amazing and tireless work she has done since her diagnosis to reduce the stigma around cancer”.

“At the end, even though her body was at its weakest, her voice was at its strongest and most powerful.”

The Cardiff-born broadcaster was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2016 and subsequently underwent treatment including a mastectomy and chemotherapy.

Through her podcast, which she hosted with fellow cancer sufferers Lauren Mahon and Deborah James, Bland “earned admiration for her dignified and positive outlook, and for her efforts to give an honest portrayal of cancer”, says the BBC.

In an article written for HuffPost last month, she described “such an outpouring of love and grief from family, friends, acquaintances and strangers alike it was quite overwhelming” when she revealed the prognosis on the podcast.

Bland said that she had been spending the past months writing a book for her three-year-old son, Freddie.

“It’s a collection of all those stories your parents tell you over the years from their point of view, mixed in with all the advice they give you,” she wrote.

She has also prepared Freddie a birthday present for every year until he turns 21.

Jonathan Wall, controller of BBC Radio 5 Live, said that Bland’s fearless insights into her cancer battle had “turned the final year of her life into the finest year of her life”.

“We are all so proud at what she achieved - a truly heroic broadcaster and lovely wife, daughter and mum.”