NORTH Melbourne president Sonja Hood has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Dr Hood will have surgery to remove the lump in coming weeks and is expected to make a full recovery.
In a letter to Kangaroos members sent on Friday afternoon, Dr Hood said the diagnosis came as a shock after a routine mammogram.
"I will undergo surgery in the coming weeks and will be absent from club events for a short time after that while I recover – until then, I'm around, and I'll be back just as soon as I can be," she said.
"I'm shocked, a bit angry, a bit scared, but more than all of that – I'm positive. I know that this is going to be OK. We've caught it early, and we're not wasting any time in getting rid of it."
Dr Hood took the opportunity to encourage others to ensure they didn't miss routine checks that could make an enormous difference.
"Aside from sending good vibes, there's only one thing that I'm going to ask that you do – if you or someone in your life (Mum, Dad, partner, sibling, grandparent) should be having routine medical checks and they aren't, nag them into going," she said.
"At worst it's half an hour they'll never get back but you just don't know when it might save a life."
Dr Hood has been president of North Melbourne for less than a year, having officially taken over from Ben Buckley in March 2022, and has overseen a tumultuous 11 months.
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Her tenure at the top has included the sacking of David Noble as senior coach, the pursuit and signing of four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson, the replacement of Ben Amarfio as CEO with Melbourne Cricket Club executive Jennifer Watt, the departure of 2021 No.1 draft pick Jason Horne-Francis and the decision to trade the 2022 No.1 pick to Greater Western Sydney.