Kaunda Selisho

By Kaunda Selisho

Journalist


Mark Pilgrim asks people to stop sharing fake news about his condition

MD of the radio station where Mark Pilgrim works, Lloyd Madurai, issued a statement asking people not to spread fake news about his condition.


South African broadcaster Mark Pilgrim is the latest local celebrity to become the subject of a death hoax and his employers at radio station HOT 102.7 have implored people to stop spreading fake news about his death. 

“HOT 102.7 would like to inform the public that Mark Pilgrim has not passed on. Social media posts suggesting he’s died are incorrect. Mark has asked that people refrain from sharing fake news around his condition,” said HOT 102.7 MD Lloyd Madurai, in a statement published on one of the radio station’s Twitter accounts. 

News24 reports that news of the radio presenter’s death began circulating online on Thursday night, after a Facebook post shared by a man named James Pilgrim announced the death of his brother-in-law, Mark.

However, James was referring to an American man named Mark Pilgrim, not South Africa’s beloved radio and television host. 

SA’s collective concern for Mark 

In recent weeks, more and more social media users have shared their concern for Mark and how they check his profile regularly for updates hoping that they will see him state that he is on the road to recovery. 

In February 2022, just weeks after celebrating being in remission for over three decades, the radio host confirmed that his cancer had returned.

He was first diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer in 1988.

According to his Wikipedia page, it was an aggressive form of cancer and spread to his lungs and kidneys. 

A month after sharing his diagnosis with the public, he began his chemo journey.

Towards the end of 2022, he began suffering from fluid buildup in his lungs which led to a prolonged hospital stay and the procedures mentioned above. 

He was released from the hospital just in time to spend the new year at home only to be readmitted for yet another procedure.

He has since spent time alternating between his home and the hospital depending on what treatment he needs and what kind of environment it needs to be administered in. 

READ NEXT: ‘You got this Mark’: Black Coffee, DJ Fresh and more rally behind Mark Pilgrim

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