Tennis legend Chris Evert says ovarian cancer has returned
Tennis legend Chris Evert has announced her ovarian cancer has returned.
The 18-time grand slam champion released a statement in which she said she had started another round of chemotherapy.
The 68-year-old American was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in December 2021 after undergoing a preventative hysterectomy.
She was given the all-clear in January this year and was told there was a 90% chance the cancer would not return.
But in a statement released through ESPN, for whom she works as a pundit, Evert said: “I wanted to give all of you an update. My cancer is back.
“While this is a diagnosis I never wanted to hear, I once again feel fortunate that it was caught early.
“Based on a PET CT scan, I underwent another robotic surgery this past week. Doctors found cancer cells in the same pelvic region.
“All cells were removed, and I have begun another round of chemotherapy.”
Chris Evert at Wimbledon in 1972. Pic: AP
Evert said she would not be working at the Australian Open while she continues treatment.
However, she said she would be “ready for the rest of the grand slam season”.
“I encourage everyone to know your family history and advocate for yourself,” she added.
“Early detection saves lives. Be thankful for your health this holiday season.”
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Evert’s sister, Jeanne Evert Dubin, died from ovarian cancer in 2020 at the age of 62.
Testing later revealed Evert had a pathogenic variant of the BRCA1 gene and following discussions with her doctor, she had a hysterectomy in early December – at which point the cancer was discovered.
She shared in a first-person piece for ESPN earlier this year that a “genetic road map” had helped her detect her cancer early.
Evert won 18 Grand Slam singles titles during her career, reached number one in the WTA rankings, and was inducted into the International Hall of Fame in 1995.
Alongside her greatest rival, Martina Navratilova, she dominated women’s tennis for much of the 1970s and 1980s.
Though the pair were great rivals on the pitch, Navratilova previously credited Evert with supporting her when she was diagnosed with throat and breast cancer in 2022.
US
Five family members, including 2-year-old, found dead alongside teen with gunshot wounds at Utah home
Five members of the same family, including a two-year-old girl, have been found dead at a home in the US state of Utah.
A 17-year-old boy was also found alive but with gunshot wounds.
It is not yet clear whether he is a suspect or victim in the case, according to local police.
Roxeanne Vainuku, police spokesperson for West Valley City, a suburb of Salt Lake City, said it’s thought to be an isolated incident and “we do not believe there’s a suspect on the loose”.
A nine-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy were found alongside the 2-year-old and a man, 42, and woman, 38.
Forensic teams examine the family home in West Valley City. Pic: The Deseret News/AP
It has not been revealed how the five people died and forensic teams have been at the house as part of a homicide investigation.
Police were alerted on Tuesday by a concerned relative who entered the home through the garage and found the 17-year-old boy alive.
The boy “suffered a pretty significant injury”, Ms Vainuku said, adding that “we’ve not really been able to communicate with him”.
When officers arrived they discovered the victims in the main part of the home.
The victims appeared to match what police know about who lived at the house – a family with two parents and four children ages 2 to 17, Ms Vainuku said.
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Police were initially called to the home on Monday after a relative said the woman who lives there had not been in touch for a few days.
Officers did not get any response and left, as there was no sign of an emergency, before returning on Tuesday evening when the same women called them again.
West Valley City is about 10 miles (16km) southwest of Salt Lake City.
A death row inmate’s last words were “let’s get this over with” before he became the first person to be executed in the US state of Indiana in 15 years.
Joseph Corcoran, 49, died by lethal injection on Wednesday for the 1997 murders of his brother, his sister’s fiancee and two other men.
He had been on death row since 1999 and was executed despite his legal team and campaigners appealing to Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb to use his powers to grant clemency.
In a petition to the federal courts, including the US Supreme Court, the quadruple murderer’s lawyers maintained that he suffered from “severe and longstanding paranoid schizophrenia”.
They added that this was documented in self-published books from prison in which he described being subject to “ultrasonic surveillance”.
Deputy public defender Joanna Green said on Tuesday: “If the courts do not stay the execution, we are asking Gov Holcomb to grant clemency to Joe, a seriously mentally ill man.”
It came a day after a federal appeals court ruled that Corcoran was mentally fit enough to be executed.
Anti-death penalty groups had spent the past few days demonstrating outside Indiana’s state capitol building which houses the office of Mr Holcomb, the Indiana General Assembly and the Indiana Supreme Court.
They also delivered letters to Mr Holcomb’s office urging him to grant clemency.
Holcomb’s office did not immediately respond to a request from Sky News’ US partner network NBC News on Tuesday.
The governor announced in June that the state had procured pentobarbital, a sedative used in lethal injections, after “years of effort”.
He said at the time: “Accordingly, I am fulfilling my duties as governor to follow the law and move forward appropriately in this matter.”
An undated photo of Joseph Corcoran. Pic: AP
Corcoran’s last meal
The Indiana Department of Correction began the execution process shortly after midnight local time on Wednesday and Corcoran was pronounced dead around 44 minutes later.
The department said his last words were: “Not really. Let’s get this over with.”
Corcoran requested Ben & Jerry’s ice cream as his last meal, the department added.
Ahead of the execution, anti-death penalty campaigners criticised the Indiana Department of Correction for carrying out the process without media witnesses.
Of the 27 states that still allow for capital punishment, only Indiana and Wyoming exclude media witnesses, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre.
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‘It’s going to ruin Christmas’
Before the execution, David Frank, the president of the Indiana Abolition Coalition, made reference to Christmas when he said: “One week before we welcome the light of the Prince of Peace into the world… the state in secret, under cover of darkness, plans to take the life of Mr Corcoran.”
Meanwhile, Corcoran’s sister Kelly Ernst, whose fiancee Robert Scott Turner was one of his victims, said she believes the death penalty should be abolished and criticised the state’s decision to execute her brother a week before Christmas.
Ms Ernst said: “My sister and I, our birthdays are in December… I mean, it just feels like it’s going to ruin Christmas for the rest of our lives. That’s just what it feels like.”
What was Corcoran convicted of?
Corcoran was 22 when he fatally shot his brother James, 30, at the home they shared in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
He also killed Turner, 32, and friends Douglas Stillwell and Timothy Bricker, both 30.
Five years earlier, Corcoran was acquitted of the murders of his parents, Jack and Kathryn Corcoran, after jurors found not enough evidence to convict.
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