(Photo by Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for BCRF)
Every year in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton go viral for the text exchange that brought them together in 2016. Weeks before their ninth celebration, though, Wanda shared another message via Jamal that’s getting viral attention. She’s battling breast cancer.
Wanda’s diagnosis comes more than four years after her husband, Lonnie, passed away after becoming sick with Covid-19.
As is typical for Jamal’s annual updates, he spoke out via X (formerly Twitter). In the caption of the Oct. 16 post, Jamal wrote, “Here’s a special message from Wanda.” Dench began her statement by assuring their fans that she and her adopted grandson plan to reunite for their ninth Thanksgiving next month. Then, she explained how her breast cancer diagnosis came to be, highlighting that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“Earlier this year, I came down with bronchitis and had a CT scan to check out my lungs; that’s when a mass in my breast was detected, and they suggested I get a mammogram and that verified I had breast cancer,” Dench wrote.
She added that she is receiving chemotherapy treatment. Additionally, Wanda Dench shared that cancer doesn’t run in her family, and her previous mammograms didn’t detect any cancer. Wanda said she believed her last mammogram was going to be the one from 2022 when she turned 65. “But I was wrong,” she added.
Following the shocking diagnosis, the grandmother said she’s gotten support from the “wonderful people” at the Breast Cancer Center, her family and friends.
“I’ve learned a lot of life lessons through it all, but what I want to stress most of all is just because you may be older, we still have a life to live. After watching the ‘Golden Bachelor’ last year, that gave me hope that I could still find love in my senior years. So continue getting your checkups, and continue to live YOUR life,” Dench added before closing with a Proverbs 31:25 Bible quote.
As mentioned, Wanda Dench and Jamal came together in 2016 after she accidentally texted him the family’s Thanksgiving plans. She was under the impression she had been texting her grandson. Jamal opted to still show up, and documented the encounter on social media. People fell in love with their story, and they’ve celebrated eight years in a row since then.
Wanda Dench’s breast cancer diagnosis follows another diagnosis that another equally nostalgic character shared. ‘Boy Meets World’ actress Danielle Fishel recently revealed that she’s battling breast cancer, as well.
