William Shatner, daughter each battle stage 4 cancer

[00:00:00]He's been a fixture on TV for decades.

[00:00:03]>> From Star Trek.

[00:00:04]>> Risk is our business.

[00:00:07]That's what the starship is all about.

[00:00:09]>> To T.J. Hooker, The Practice, even helping us get hotel deals.

[00:00:15]>> [music] >> But this morning, 95-year-old William Shatner is sharing something personal, speaking out with his daughter Melanie about their stage four cancer diagnoses.

[00:00:25]>> I went to an oncologist and they said and they operated almost immediately. It was stage four melanoma.

[00:00:33]Melanie had stage four breast cancer.

[00:00:35]And my understanding is maybe as many as 10 years ago >> I mean it's give me the mic.

[00:00:41]>> had happened we would have they would have said, "You ain't got three, four months. Pack your bags cuz you're going to die." Stage four melanoma, stage four breast cancer.

[00:00:51]>> In 2022, the then 60-year-old Melanie found a lump on her breast that led to her stage four breast cancer diagnosis.

[00:00:59]Just one year later, Shatner getting a diagnosis of his own. The father and daughter sitting down exclusively with People to talk about the experience.

[00:01:08]>> His response was like I'm going to be fine. You just were like steamroll like the way you do. You just steamrolled through it. Like I'm stage four.

[00:01:18]>> believe I've got it.

[00:01:19]>> Truly.

[00:01:20]>> Their close family bond helping them through their treatments. Melanie recalling a night she called her father for help.

[00:01:27]>> I called you and I said, "I think I'm dying." And I could hear your sheets rustling and you said, "I'm coming over."

[00:01:34]And you and I said "No, no, that's okay." And you're like, "No, no, no, I'm coming over."

[00:01:40]>> We're in a very together family. We're we're bonded by all kinds of difficulties that we overcame. And who knows what else we're going to overcome.

[00:01:52]>> Now, they're both cancer-free and embarking on a new journey, hosting a podcast together called No Time But Now, and reflecting on how the experience changed them.

[00:02:03]>> He gets more joy out of seeing a bird fly past his window and is more aware and has taught my sisters and I to be so aware of the sunrise and the blue sky. Like it it >> You're absolutely right. I find myself like driving my car. Like the joy in driving a car and and I am I'm driving a car and I like I'm smiling about it. It's these miracles of life. If you let them go by, you lose your joy of living. And and sadness and remorse and all this >> It changed my life for the all for the better.

[00:02:39]>> Such an incredible bond and you can see more of William and Melanie's People cover story on the People app. The issue is available on newsstands nationwide Friday. But can we talk about how at 95 he's doing and looking great? So glad they're doing well.

[00:02:53]>> they both look so healthy. Thank you, Morgan. And they and they just having that bond having gone through that together.

[00:02:58]>> Powerful conversation.

[00:02:59]>> Really powerful.

[00:03:00]>> Absolutely.