'Even though her body was at its weakest, her voice was at its strongest': Rachael Bland's 'crushed' husband pays tribute to the BBC presenter as she finally loses two-year breast cancer battle aged 40
- BBC Radio 5 Live presenter, 40, revealed she only had days to live on Monday
- Rachael Bland wrote memoirs and stockpiled keepsakes for son Freddie, three
- Broadcaster had been documenting fight with cancer in blog and podcast series
- Mother-of-one was diagnosed with rare triple negative breast cancer in 2016
BBC presenter Rachael Bland's 'crushed' husband today paid tribute to her after she died aged 40 following an inspirational two-year public battle with cancer.
The mother-of-one, who had triple negative breast cancer, moved thousands of people who hailed her bravery and dignity as she fought terminal illness.
This morning, a post on Bland's Twitter account from her family said: 'Our beautiful, courageous Rachael died peacefully this morning surrounded by her close family.
BBC newsreader Rachael Bland, pictured with her three-year-old son Freddie, has died after a battle with breast cancer
Bland (with husband Steve and son Freddie) built up a collection of handwritten notebooks and perfume so her son 'would remember me in some way'
'We are crushed but she would want me to thank everyone who took an interest in her story or sent messages of support. You'll never know how much they meant to her. Steve and Freddie xxx.'
On Monday she told the world she only had days to live and announced the heartbreaking final arrangements made for her family as she bravely faced death.
Her family confirmed that she had died this morning shortly after 3am, the BBC said.
Her husband Steve told the BBC: 'Rachael's death has left a huge hole in our perfect little family that we'll never be able to fill.
'She was 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.
'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 and prove that it is possible to live life to the fullest even when facing huge challenges on a daily basis.
A post on Bland's official Twitter account said: 'Our beautiful, courageous Rachael died peacefully this morning surrounded by her close family'
BBC Radio 5 Live tweeted: 'Mother to Freddie. Wife to Steve. Our treasured colleague Rachael Bland has died. She inspired so many with her blogs, the chart-topping podcast #YouMeBigC and certainly put the can in cancer. We will miss her dearly.'
'At the end, even though her body was at its weakest, her voice was at its strongest and most powerful.
'Rachael was and will always be an incredible inspiration to everyone she met. To us, she was perfect in every way and we will miss her more than words can say.
'We just ask that everyone respects our family's privacy as we try and come to terms with losing our beautiful girl.'
Steve also posted a message on the official Instagram page of her blog, Big C Little Me, which said: 'Our brave, beautiful, wonderful, courageous Rachael died peacefully this morning surrounded by her close family.
'We are all heartbroken and the hole she leaves in our perfect little family will never be filled.
This is the last picture Rachael Bland posted on Twitter. It shows her (right) giggling with Radio 5 Live co-hosts and fellow cancer patients Lauren Mahon (centre) and Deborah James (left)
'To everyone who took an interest in her story over the last two years, downloaded the awe-inspiring You, Me and the Big C podcast or sent her messages of support, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You'll never know how much those messages meant to her and us.
'We'll miss her so very much but we couldn't be prouder of what she achieved in her 40 years, and we are genuinely comforted by the impact we know she had on so many lives. Thank you. Steve and Freddie xxx'.
Bland poignantly revealed she had wrapped 18 years worth of birthday presents for three-year-old son Freddie so he had a gift from her until he was 21.
But it is not yet known if she was able to finish her memoirs - simply called 'For Freddie' - which she had written just for him so he could remember her.
The BBC 5Live newsreader had also built up a collection of handwritten notebooks, perfume and other personal items so the little boy grows up knowing how his mummy wrote, smelled and sounded once she is gone.
Her friend and colleague Tony Livesey said: '5 Live's lost one of its brightest spirits. I'm going into cliche territory now so she'll be pressing an alarm somewhere, but she was beautiful inside and out. She was such a lovely person.
The broadcaster left her wishes for the family in a series of WhatsApp messages sent to her husband Steve's sister
Bland wrote an emotional goodbye message to her social media followers on Monday
'Rachael Bland - presenter, friend to most of us, inspiration to all. Radio 5 Live is broadcasting with a broken heart. We've lost one of our brightest talents.'
And Simon Thomas, whose wife Gemma died from leukaemia in November 2017, tweeted: 'So quick in the end and so so tragic. Another beautiful life cut cruelly short by the bastard that is cancer.
'Steve and Freddie, your wife and mum was a truly remarkable woman. Courageous. compassionate and so strong. My thoughts and prayers are with you both. God Bless.'
'Putting the Can in Cancer': Rachael Bland's battle with deadly disease
Rachael Bland is pictured in hospital about to undergo chemotherapy
November 22 2016: Rachael Bland is diagnosed with primary triple-negative breast cancer that had spread to four lymph nodes under her right arm
December 28 2016: She begins four and a half months of chemotherapy
May 2017: She has a lumpectomy and auxillary node clearance
July 2017: The mother-of-one undergoes a mastectomy
August 2017: Bland has a re-excision of her lumpectomy and starts 15 sessions of radiotherapy
October 2017: CT and biopsy shows cancer had spread to the lymph nodes under her arm on the opposite side to the primary cancer
May 2018: She is told the cancer is terminal and she has 'less than a year to live'
September 2018: Bland announces she has just days to live in a poignant social media post. She died today.
BBC Director-General Tony Hall said: 'Rachael was a popular and inspiring journalist. Everyone has been moved by her courage and dignity.
'She will be hugely missed by her many listeners and by staff across the BBC. Our sympathies go out to her family and many friends at this difficult time.'
BBC Radio 5 Live tweeted: 'Mother to Freddie. Wife to Steve. Our treasured colleague Rachael Bland has died. She inspired so many with her blogs, the chart-topping podcast #YouMeBigC and certainly put the can in cancer. We will miss her dearly.'
Controller of Radio 5 Live, Jonathan Wall, said: 'Rachael was part of the fabric of 5 Live and today is a very sad day for all of us and so many of our listeners.
'She was a very talented broadcaster and a beautiful loyal colleague to so many. More than that, she turned the final year of her life into the finest year of her life delivering the most important broadcasting I have ever heard about living with cancer, and ultimately facing death because of cancer. She has made a profound difference to so many lives.
'We are all so proud at what she achieved - a truly heroic broadcaster and lovely wife, daughter and mum.'
And Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: 'So sad to hear Rachael Bland has died. She fought so bravely.
'Her legacy is a testament to how much more we need to do to beat this dreadful disease.'
Bland said in a blog published on Tuesday: 'The main thing is that, while he's so young, I want him to remember me in some way. I hope the book and these gifts and notes will leave an imprint of my love behind for the rest of his life. So he can be sure how very much I love him'.
In order to not upset her husband Steve, she also set up a WhatsApp group with his sister detailing her wishes for their little boy as he grows up including not cutting his hair too short and ensuring he helps choose his school.
Her brave tweet on Monday announcing she has 'only got days' sparked an outpouring of grief among friends and fans.
Bland's final plans were revealed in an online post written last week - just before she learned she had days to live - but published for the first time on Tuesday.
The 40-year-old mother had been documenting her battle with breast cancer for a blog and podcast series called Big C Little Me. She is pictured in hospital taking part in a medical trial before she died
She wrote in HuffPost: 'I have a Whatsapp group with Steve's sister where I send her things I want for Freddie and his future. The things that might overwhelm and upset Steve now but she will make sure happens.
'Like not cutting his hair too short until he really insists, or my wish for him to go to the very best school and university possible, so long as that's what he wants.
'I'm also planning and wrapping birthday presents which he can open between the ages of four and twenty one.
'Personal effects like my notepads – so he can see what my writing was like. Or the perfume he helped pick out for me earlier this year so he'll remember my smell. And his all-important box of newborn keepsakes.'
Bland was documenting her fight against the disease in a blog called Big C Little Me since she was diagnosed in November 2016.
Bland discussed her fears about leaving behind her husband Steve and son Freddie, three, (pictured together at Christmas last year) on her podcast about having cancer
Bland was a newsreader for more than 15 years (she is pictured presenting BBC News) and also a regular on BBC radio
The Welsh journalist also hosted a podcast series called You Me & The Big C where she discussed the highs and lows of battling the illness.
Her positive BBC podcast came with the warning 'contains adult humour', and explored the disease with frank wit, and now occupies the top spot of the UK podcast charts.
Writing in her blog previously, Bland told of how she was with her son and his friends at an ice cream farm when she was given the earth-shattering news her cancer was terminal.
She said: 'My heart raced as I answered it, knowing a phone call did not bode well.
'Then came the words 'I am so sorry, it's bad news. The biopsies have come back showing the same cancer is back and is in the skin'.
Describing the moment she broke the news to her family, Rachael said: 'I watched my little Freddie innocently playing away in a tyre in the barn and my heart broke for him.
'I scooped him up and dashed home and then had to break [her husband] Steve's heart with the news that my cancer was now metastatic and therefore incurable.'
The news anchor had written that she felt she had become a 'lab rat' after starting a medical trial in a bid to buy her more time with her husband Steve and then two-year-old son Freddie.
Thousands of listeners tuned in to BBC Radio 5 Live to hear her weekly discussions with fellow patients Lauren Mahon and Deborah James on the highs and lows of living with cancer.
Bland with her husband of nearly five years, Steve, during her battle with cancer
In an early episode of her podcast, Bland told the story of how she discovered she had cancer, after breastfeeding her young boy Freddie who she had with husband Steve.
She said: 'I had pain first. I had this weird soreness. It was kind of inside my armpit. It went away. It was just around the time I was breastfeeding.
'But because of that I was having a little bit of a feel. When I found it, I was like: 'How did I miss this?'
'It was the size of a walnut.'
What followed were months of treatment for Bland and the start of her gallows humour 'death jokes'.
Guests on the podcast, including actor Greg Wise talking about death, discussed different aspects of living with cancer.
In May she was told that her cancer had metastasised, spreading to her lymph nodes, skin, and liver.
During one podcast discussing her lungs being drained, Bland frankly said she feared the worst, saying: 'I'm all right. I'm surviving. Doctors were basically sending me home to die.
'I was sent home in an ambulance.'
In order to limit the progress of cancer in her liver, Bland gave up alcohol, but still saw humour in the situation as the pain and disease intensified.
'If at any time you want to just drown in a vat of wine, now is the time,' she said on the podcast, adding in a later episode: 'It's my least favourite organ, that liver.'
Bland is pictured with husband Steve and their son Freddie in their garden in Cheshire
The BBC news anchor of 15 years is pictured with her little boy Freddie, who she had said she was scared of leaving behind
Discussing the prospect of death on the podcast, Bland said that her main wish was not to complete a 'bucket list', but for time in the garden with her husband and son.
The presenter said that even in these moments there was a fear that time was running out, and she would leave her loved ones behind.
She said: 'Sometimes there is a little voice that says: 'Are you enjoying the sun? I don't think you've got another winter in you.''
Her last podcast was on the subject of pain, with Bland admitting she had become 'quite the cocktail of drugs' in order to manage the ravages of cancer.
Thousands of listeners tuned in to BBC Radio 5 Live to hear Bland's weekly discussions with Lauren Mahon (centre) and Deborah James (right) of the highs and lows of her fight
In a heart-wrenching interview with the Telegraph last month she revealed that she decided not to find out how long she has left to live, instead 'guesstimating' that it was less than a year.
The newsreader said that she was 'not scared of dying' but is worried about leaving Freddie and her husband Steve behind.
'I have to suppress a lot of the darkest thoughts about Freddie growing up without his mummy around,' she added.
In May this year she said she wanted to fill every day she had left with joyful memories for her young son.
She said: 'I like happy times and love and happiness and I want to hold on to those positives.
'Unless the doctors can stop this terrible disease, I have a limited time left and I want to fill it with lovely memories for Steve and Freddie.'
The couple married in 2013 after meeting at the BBC in Manchester, where they both worked, before settling down to family life in Cheshire.
Their fifth wedding anniversary falls on September 14.
'I scooped up my son, dashed home and then had to break my husband's heart': BBC newsreader Rachael Bland, 40, on the terrible moment she found out she had incurable breast cancer
In an emotional blog post on May 20, BBC newsreader Rachael Bland spoke of the earth-shattering moment she was told her breast cancer was terminal.
Mrs Bland, who lived in Cheshire with her husband Steve and their three-year-old son Freddie, wrote on her blog Big C Little Me about the phone call she received while out with her son, telling her the cancer had spread.
The 40-year-old revealed she was forced to 'scoop her son up' and go home from a family day out to a local farm to 'break her husband's heart' with the news her cancer was incurable.
Rachael Bland told of the moment she had to 'break her husband Steve's heart' (couple pictured together) in a blog post for her series Big C Little Me
She wrote: 'I would love to be writing you a more positive post but unfortunately, the bad news keeps on racking up. My lymph node surgery in February went to plan but the results as ever weren't good.
'Seven out of 19 nodes removed were positive for cancer – a sign the previous 4 months of chemo hadn't really cut the mustard.
'Still, my surgeon was happy he'd done as much as he could and a subsequent CT scan a couple of weeks later showed no new nasty surprises.
'Still, no reason to be reaching for the life boats just yet. A few days later came the call.
'Merry Chemo' Christmas' was the title of another blog post Mrs Bland posted in December last year
'I was at the ice cream farm with Freddie and some of his little pals. My heart raced as I answered it, knowing a phone call did not bode well.
'Then came the words 'I am so sorry, it's bad news. The biopsies have come back showing the same cancer is back and is in the skin'.
'I watched my little Freddie innocently playing away in a tyre in the barn and my heart broke for him.
'I scooped him up and dashed home and then had to break Steve's heart with the news that my cancer was now and therefore incurable.'
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