breast cancer

Leah Siegel, an ESPN producer and Dallas mother of three whose two-year struggle with breast cancer inspired area residents, died early Monday, her family said. She was 43.


MONA REEDER/DMN File
Leah Siegel (right) fixes daugher Teagan's hair during a 2008 photo shoot for a Dallas Morning News story about Leah Siegel's breast cancer diganosis shortly after giving birth to her third child. Leah Siegel died Monday at age 43.
Siegel's battle with the disease was chronicled in a 2008 Dallas Morning News story and in a blog she regularly updated.

"It was her way of not only dealing with something but helping others along the way," said Myra MacPherson, Siegel's mother. "It was just miraculous, for the people who read it and for Leah."

Siegel had been resting in hospice care in recent days, her husband, Eric Loehr, told readers of her blog. She died about 4:30 a.m.

"Thank you to everyone," Loehr wrote Monday. "The support over the last couple of years has been amazing."

Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Sparkman-Hillcrest Funeral Home in Dallas. A second event celebrating Siegel's life is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 11, with more details to come.

Siegel moved to Dallas in 1996 and was one of the first women to be a full-time field producer for ESPN. She won three Emmy awards.

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Shortly after arriving in Dallas, she married Loehr and had three children – Teagan, 5, Wyatt, 3, and Oliver, 23 months.

It was during an emergency delivery of Oliver that doctors first noticed trouble.

Her blood platelet levels were low, and she began getting platelet transfusions the next day.

Nine days after giving birth, she began chemotherapy. The diagnosis was advanced breast cancer – metastatic lobular carcinoma.

Lakewood-area families supported Siegel during her battle. They formed a team that raised money and walked during the annual Komen Dallas Race for the Cure.

Siegel grew up in Washington, D.C., attended Maret High School and graduated from the University of Maryland.

Siegel is survived by her husband and three children, her mother, and brother, Michael Siegel.