Jim Donovan, long-time sports anchor at WKYC TV-3 and radio play-by-play voice of the Browns since 1999, revealed the leukemia that struck him in the previous decade has relapsed.
Donovan, 66, made the announcement May 31 on the Channel 3 news show “Front Row.”
“There is a story to the new look and hairstyle that I’m sporting here tonight,” Donovan said. “And I think tonight we’re going to take a couple of moments here to tell you the story behind the story behind the look. So we’ll start this way. It was about a year and a half ago that I noticed that something was amiss with my health.
“And if you’ve known me and if you’ve followed me through the years here at Channel 3 and with the Cleveland Browns, you know that I’ve had a long battle with leukemia to the point where I had a bone marrow transplant about 11 and a half years ago. Well, my concerns were confirmed, and by that I mean it was told to me that I had had a relapse of leukemia.
“So for the last year and a half, I have been getting treatment for that with various forms of chemotherapy — some with intravenous and others with oral chemo drugs. And for the most part, those worked pretty well. But things change and things have changed for me in my case. And so we’re going to have to go with a different treatment plan, a more aggressive treatment plan, which has already started. And I’m underway with that.
“That’s the badge of honor that you get in chemotherapy. You begin to lose your hair. So I’m underway with that. This is going to be kind of a long and winding road through this treatment plan because it is going to be pretty aggressive. But the goal is to get better, to get healthy, to move on. I know the deal. I’ve done it before and I plan to do it once again.”
Donovan thanked his wife, Cheryl, and his daughter, Megan, for their support. He thanked his colleagues at Channel 3, the Browns, and viewers plus listeners for their support and prayers, as well. He said he plans to continue working when his health allows.
“Now, as far as my availability through all of this, I will be here at Channel 3 and on the radio as much as I can be,” he said. “But there are going to be periods of time where I might not be with you. That might be for a day, it might be for a longer period of time. We’ll just have to see how the treatment plan goes and see how I react to it all this,”
The Browns issued a statement of support after Donovan went public with his condition.
“Our thoughts and the thoughts of the entire organization are with Jim and his family right now in this difficult time,” the statement from team owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said. “There is no better representative of the Cleveland Browns. He is as tough as they come and proved as much in his previous battle.
“We’re all behind Jim and will do everything we can to support him. We look forward to him winning this fight, being around the team and continuing to call our games during the season.”
Jeff Phelps from WKRK-FM 92.3 The Fan filled in for Donovan in the past when health issues made Donovan unable to do Browns play-by-play.
