One symptom US sports hero's student daughter had before brain tumour diagnosis

The daughter of NFL legend and Good Morning America (GMA) anchor Michael Strahan has revealed the unusual symptom she suffered shortly before being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour.

Isabella Strahan, 20, had only just started her first year at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles when she received some harrowing news. A cancerous growth, known as a medulloblastoma, had been discovered on her brain just weeks into her first term at college.

She underwent emergency surgery a day before her 19th birthday and has since had radiation and chemotherapy treatment. Thankfully, she was declared cancer-free over the summer and has returned to her studies after a year away.

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Speaking on her father's GMA show, she explained how she started experiencing strong headaches that would make her feel dizzy shortly after arriving at university. "I had headaches. It’s not like headaches. I was dizzy," Strahan said.

"The biggest thing is that I could not walk in a straight line. Every time I was walking, I could not walk in a straight line. So I thought I had vertigo."

According to the Mayo Clinic, initial symptoms of medulloblastoma include dizziness, nausea, headaches, vomiting and poor coordination. The tumour, which typically occurs in young children, affects a part of the brain that is responsible for muscle coordination, balance and movement.

Strahan went into more detail about her experience in a YouTube video, uploaded in February 2024. She explained that she started waking up feeling sick, and assumed the nausea was related to the dizziness she'd been feeling.

A few weeks later, the aspiring model flew to New York City to do a photo shoot but had to cancel her plans after her condition worsened. "I was throwing up blood," she recounted. "I was like, 'Hmm, this probably isn’t good.' So I texted [my sister], who then notified the whole family."

Eventually, Strahan was admitted to hospital, and an MRI scan revealed that she had developed a fast-growing tumour. At the time of the diagnosis, it measured four centimetres - about the size of a golf ball.

Isabella's father, Michael, who won the Super Bowl with the New York Giants, said the situation "didn't feel real" and admitted he was in such a state of shock that he doesn't remember much about that period.

"The process was a lot scarier than we imagined," the American football icon admitted. "Seeing her come out of surgery, and all the things she had to learn how to do again. You just pray that everything gets back to normal."

He continued: "There were times when we said, 'We know it's painful and tough, but it's temporary.' The last year is one we hope to forget, but at the same time it's shown us a lot of important things about who she is and about who we are and about how we show up for each other as a family."

Reflecting on her experience, Isabella says her cancer made her "stronger" and helped bolster her relationship with her family. "I'm happy to be here," she said. "I think this year has made me stronger. The people in your life are what makes it enjoyable. Now I don't say no to anything. I don't think, 'I'll do it next week'. You don't know what next week will look like."