Doctor shared frantic post on Facebook after spotting a lump on a woman’s neck on TV — and ended up saving her life
'You have no idea how much you have impacted my life, just by seeing me on television...' she told Dr. Voigt.
Nicole McGuiness had defeated brain cancer, and she wanted to celebrate her new life by buying a beach house in South Carolina. To make house hunting even more exciting, she appeared on the TV show "Beachfront Bargain Hunt" along with her dad. Nicole's house hunting, however, took an unexpected turn when Dr. Erich Voigt, watching her on television, noticed a lump in her neck, Inside Edition reported.
Nothing about Nicole's appearance on the TV show looked suspicious; she was happy, excited, and over the moon, trying to find her dream home. But Dr. Voigt, a New York-based surgeon from NYU Langone Health, knew something wasn't right and that she might have cancer. "I noticed that she had a lump in her neck. And as a head and neck surgeon, I'm trained to sort of notice these things," he told ABC News. Dr. Voigt was clearly concerned for the woman and wanted to alert her about a possible medical emergency, but the only problem was that he had no idea who Nicole was. The doctor turned to Facebook for help. He posted a clip of the TV show featuring the woman and asked people if there was any way he could get in touch with her. "I am watching a tv show and notice this woman has a left thyroid mass. She needs a sonogram and a fine needle biopsy. I wonder if she knows, and hope it's benign," Dr. Voigt wrote.
Social media eventually helped him track down Nicole, and Voigt let her know she needed a sonogram and a biopsy. When the medical results came in, Nicole was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. "Somehow or another, by the grace of God, it got back to my family, and we were shocked that a doctor witnessed this on television and reached out," Nicole said. Finally, when the duo met, the woman thanked the doctor in person and said, "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much you have impacted my life, just by seeing me on television." About 1.3 million people die from cancer every year in the WHO South-East Asia region. Out of these, reportedly nearly 67% of people die before the person turns 70, largely due to late diagnosis and treatment. Now, it's important to realize that Nicole could start her treatment only because of Dr. Voigt, who alerted her about a possible health condition; if not for him, a late diagnosis could have resulted in something more tragic.
Meanwhile, reacting to the wholesome story, @thefinancialfreedomgirl commented, "My uncle did this once! He's an eye surgeon and was at a dinner party where he saw a woman from across the room whose eye looked at him. He approached her and let her know she had a tumor behind her eye, and he helped her schedule an appointment with his office ASAP. Turns out she really did have a tumor behind her eye, and they were able to treat it early!"
Similarly, @joosipa shared, "I have a friend who got diagnosed with thyroid cancer after her teacher noticed a bump on her neck and advised her to immediately go to see a doctor. It was 15 years ago; she is happy and healthy now, thanks to that teacher." @gensantos8512 wrote, "He's a doctor with a huge heart. Care not only for his patients. He also cares for anyone his eyes can see." @autonomoussovereignoracle commented, "Damn. I can barely get the doctors that I'm PAYING to see to listen to my concerns. God bless this doctor. We need more like him."
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