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Originally appeared on E! Online
The Shatner family faced an unimaginable frontier: two simultaneous cancer battles.
Three years after William Shatner was diagnosed with stage 4 malignant melanoma amid his daughter Melanie Shatner Gretsch's battle with stage 4 breast cancer, the pair reflected on navigating the scary chapter together.
"I remember vividly thinking, 'I don't have the strength to take care of myself and lose my father at the same time,'" Melanie told People in a joint interview with William published July 22. "I was having a moment and was hysterical. I called you and said, 'I think I'm dying.'"
But her dad was right there by her side.
"He gave me, what I think of ever since I was a little girl, a 'daddy bear hug,'" she recalled. "He said, 'This is going to be a blip in your life. You're going to get through this, and it'll be a memory.'"
Meanwhile, the Star Trek alum—who was diagnosed with cancer in June 2023 that spread to his lungs and brain, less than one year after Melanie's diagnosis—noted that their dual health battles ultimately strengthened their relationship.
READ William Shatner Addresses Rumors He's Dying of Brain Cancer
"We're a very together family," he said. "We're bonded by all kinds of difficulties that we've overcome."
William—who shares Melanie, as well as daughters Leslie Shatner, 67, and Lisbeth Shatner, 65, with ex-wife Gloria Rand—focused on finding gratitude amid his own cancer diagnosis.
"They said, 'You got cancer. If you came in later, you would have been dead.' See? That's my life," the 95-year-old shared. "I think the universe is taking care of me."
Indeed, the Boston Legal alum recognized he has been beyond blessed—despite the challenging health chapter.
"It's easy for us in this lovely home to say, 'Make your life meaningful,'" he added. "It's much more difficult to be poverty-stricken and wonder how you're going to get through it. I've been there. But it's also possible to endure that and be aware of the beauty around you."
While Melanie underwent multiple rounds of chemo, a double mastectomy and 30 radiation therapy treatments, William had surgery to remove the tumor on his face, as well as two years of immunotherapy to target the cancer in his lungs and brain.
"Chemo was the most physically draining, and the radiation I found so emotionally draining," the mom of two admitted. So, now that she's cancer-free, she reflected, "I'm not so afraid anymore, and there's so much freedom and joy."
And William is especially grateful for the medical treatment they received. He noted, "We got the perfect doctors for her cancer and my cancer."
As for how the actor is doing now?
"I'm healthier now than I've been in years," William emphasized. "The brain is like a muscle. It feeds on activity."
As the Shatner family continues to navigate their new normal, keep reading for more celebs who've detailed their own cancer journeys.
