Broadcaster delays cancer op for Welsh festival

Maxine Hughes: "Coming back to Wales to go to the eisteddfod is something special"

Broadcaster Maxine Hughes' USA-based doctor was a "bit perplexed" when she asked to delay her double mastectomy so she could fly home to attend this year's Welsh language cultural festival.

She said being able to attend the National Eisteddfod in Wrexham was a "dream come true" after six months of chemotherapy following her breast cancer diagnosis.

The journalist is also known by Wrexham fans as the Welsh interpreter poking fun at football club owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in their series, Welcome to Wrexham.

She will be honoured in a special ceremony on the festival field or "maes" for her contribution to the nation before flying back to America to have the operation next week.

"I'm just going to enjoy this week [and] not think about it," she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

"Over Christmas, I found a lump and found out that it was a triple negative breast cancer, which is a very aggressive form of breast cancer, so I immediately had to start chemotherapy.

"I've just finished. I had it for six months, and I've got to have a double mastectomy.

"I was supposed to have it today, but I convinced the doctor that there was an incredibly important event in Wales that I had to come to.

"He was a bit perplexed, but he agreed to move it so I'll be traveling back on Sunday and then straight in on Monday to have a double mastectomy."

She learned about receiving the Welsh accolade as she was undergoing cancer treatment after finding the lump the day after her father had died.

"Coming back to Wales to go to the eisteddfod is something special," said Hughes.

She was already an established US-based Welsh journalist before reaching a new audience after landing the role teasing Wrexham FC's Hollywood owners.

Brought up in Conwy to an English mother and Wrexham-born father, she attended Welsh medium schools and competed in Welsh language recitation competitions on the maes as a child.

More than 150,000 people are expected to attend this week, with 6,000 competitors showcasing the best Welsh language art, music, drama and literature.

It is held in north and south Wales on alternate years and it's the first time since 2011 that the eisteddfod has been held in the area.

Hughes has described being on the maes as a "wonderful experience" for her own children.

"It's great to be able to bring them back, for them to have that connection with the culture and the language, and hear the language around them alive," she said.

"When we're in the States, obviously it's just me speaking Welsh to them."

On Friday, she will join other people being honoured in a special ceremony on the maes.

The Gorsedd of the Bards is an association made up of people who have made a contribution to the Welsh nation, its language and culture.

Hughes said she "almost fainted" when she realised she was to be inducted whilst undergoing treatment, as well as being named the festival's president of Wales and the world.

"It's amazing to be back," she said.