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A beloved Northern California news anchor announced he would not be returning to air after previously revealing a shocking diagnosis of stage 4 inoperable lung cancer.
In a touching video message on Thursday night, Fox KMPH longtime anchor Monty Torres told the community he was retiring after being on the air for more than 20 years in Fresno.
“I promised to keep you updated on my progress since my lung cancer diagnosis and tonight I am here to keep that promise,” Torres said.
The anchor thanked those who have been praying for him and his family over the last nine months after he got the diagnosis that the cancer he had was both inoperable and incurable.
Torres said his symptoms have “nearly all disappeared” with the latest biopsy of trace fluid in his lungs showing “no malignant cells present” and not a trace of cancer.
However, he did caution that doctors said there could be cancer in other parts of his body still.
Despite this positive health update, Monty said he has made the decision to officially step away from the news desk, where he has called home for two decades.
“After more than 20 years as part of the Fox26 news family, I am here also tonight to sadly announce that I will not be returning to the news desk,” Torres said.
“My family and I will remain here in the valley as I continue to focus on my recovery or God sends us somewhere else.”
“I will very much miss my nightly connection to my workers, co-workers and colleagues, here at KMPH, and all of you,” Torres added.
In October, the news anchor finally addressed his weeks-long absence from the 10 P.M. nightly newscast, revealing that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.
“After 20 years here with you, most every night, I feel I owe you an explanation,” Torres said in a recorded video message.
“About a month ago, I started experiencing severe shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, wheezing and coughing.”
An X-ray revealed he had fluid in his lungs with one of his lungs two-thirds collapsed. Tests later revealed that he had stage 4 cancer.
“It is inoperable, due to its location, and incurable,” the anchor told viewers. “But still treatable.”
Torres is a longtime California news reporter and anchor, born and raised in Southern California, per the news site.
He started his career in Los Angeles as a weekend anchor and co-host of a community affairs show, before landing a general assignment reporter gig in Fresno with KMPH in 1996.
After a decade of jobs at various news stations in Florida, Michigan and North Carolina, he and his family came back to Fresno in 2006 where he landed news anchor at Fox 26 10 o’clock news.
Torres is married to his wife Lorretta and they have six kids together.
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