Award-winning Tongan-Fijian journalist Indira Stewart has revealed she has been undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of breast cancer, sharing her experience publicly to encourage women to get checked and not delay mammograms.
The 41-year-old TVNZ journalist disclosed that she was diagnosed with Grade 3 breast cancer in January and began chemotherapy just two weeks later.
“January is now a blur to me,” Stewart wrote in an emotional social media post, alongside photographs taken just days before she began chemotherapy.
She said the tumour was aggressive and that much of her life this year had been spent at home undergoing treatment.
Stewart revealed that she had managed to keep her illness largely private, including from some friends and family members who would learn of her diagnosis through her public announcement.
When she did go out, she said she used false eyelashes and drew on eyebrows, while cold-capping treatment helped preserve about half of her hair.
The cancer treatment also brought major changes she had not expected at her age, including early menopause and undergoing a mastectomy.
Despite the difficult journey, Stewart said she remained grateful and was continuing chemotherapy alongside other treatment.
Her decision to reveal the diagnosis carried a wider message for women and families, particularly in communities where health checks can sometimes be delayed.
“This is a reminder to get checked fam, get your mammogram if you’re eligible and don’t put it off,” she said.
Stewart is one of New Zealand’s prominent Pacific journalists and has worked at TVNZ since 2020. She is currently an In-Depth Multimedia Reporter and has previously presented TVNZ’s Breakfast and Midday news programmes.
Her Tongan upbringing has featured strongly in her journalism and public storytelling. Stewart has previously written about growing up around the New Lynn Tongan Methodist Church, where her father conducted the church choir and Tongan music and language became an important part of her identity.
She has also spoken publicly about how, as a young Tongan woman, she did not initially see journalism as a possible career because she had not seen women like herself represented on mainstream television.
Her work has since earned significant recognition. Stewart won the Le Mana Pacific Award for Pasifika journalism at the New Zealand media awards for a third consecutive year in 2026, following wins in 2024 and 2025.
Her disclosure now places her own experience at the centre of a deeply personal message: for women not to postpone breast checks and to undergo mammography when eligible.
Stewart said that although the treatment journey still felt long, she felt “lucky and grateful”.
