Boston's longtime radio personality, Candy O'Terry, "Candy O" to her fans, has publicly disclosed her battle with breast cancer. In a heartfelt message delivered from the comfort of her living room, O'Terry shared her ordeal with her social media followers yesterday. She recounted the journey that led to her diagnosis: an abnormal mammogram in September, followed by a biopsy in November, which confirmed she had stage 1 invasive breast cancer.
"Don't miss your mammogram!" she urged, pointing a finger at the camera. Echoing her message, O'Terry emphasized the importance of early detection, which, "I never have, and I think it saved my life," she told in a video statement obtained by the Boston Herald. The diagnosis hit close to home for O'Terry, whose mother died of breast cancer, and it resonated with the fears of her own childhood facing the same dreadful enemy.
Her resilience is as evident as her call for early cancer screening is insistent. O'Terry, once a morning staple on Magic 106.7 and now the host of her own "The Story Behind Her Success" podcast, rightly labeled her early-stage diagnosis as both a stroke of fortune and a clarion call for vigilance against a disease that has deeply affected her family.
O'Terry is set to begin radiation treatment at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, where 16 sessions await her starting next week. "I'm very, very lucky," she noted, acknowledging her audience's anticipated support, "But what I do need, if you could do it for me, is your prayers. Just for some courage," as she told Boston.com. In her vulnerability, and in her earnest appeal for support, O'Terry mirrors the countless women who face this diagnosis and, in sharing her story, becomes an unwitting emblem of the hope and urgency that ignites the fight against breast cancer.
Support for O'Terry has been pouring in from her fans and the community, many of whom have grown up listening to her voice, who now hope to lend the same comfort and strength she's provided them through the airwaves. O'Terry's narrative is not just her own – it's a shared story of struggle, awareness, and the indomitable spirit of a city rallying behind one of its most cherished voices.
