26 Facts About Helen Rollason

Helen Frances Rollason was a British sports journalist and television presenter, who in 1990 became the first female presenter of the BBC's sports programme Grandstand.

Helen Rollason was a regular presenter of Sport on Friday, and of the children's programme Newsround during the 1980s.

Helen Rollason presented sports bulletins for BBC Breakfast News and BBC News, and in 1996 was named as Sports Presenter of the Year.

Helen Rollason was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1997, and fought a two-year battle with the disease.

Helen Rollason continued to work throughout her illness, and shortly before her death was appointed an MBE in the 1999 Birthday Honours.

Helen Rollason Grindley was born in London on 11 March 1956, and adopted at the age of nine months.

Helen Rollason's father was an engineer who later became a lecturer at Bath College, and her mother a biology teacher.

Helen Rollason attended the Bath High School for Girls, and after developing an early interest in sport, was a member of Bath Athletics Club, as well as playing hockey for Somerset.

Helen Rollason worked initially at Henry Beaufort School in Winchester, Hampshire, before moving to Essex, where she was a supply teacher.

Helen Rollason continued to aspire to a career in broadcasting, and while still teaching did screen tests for BBC Wales and BBC South, but she was unsuccessful in both auditions.

Helen Rollason was appointed as the station's deputy sports editor.

Helen Rollason covered the 1987 World Student Games from Zagreb for Thames Television, and then presented the 1988 World Junior Athletics championships from Sudbury, Ontario for Channel 4.

In 1990, Helen Rollason joined BBC Sport and became the first female presenter of Grandstand, where her down-to-earth presenting style quickly made her popular with viewers, and earned her a regular presenting role on BBC Two's Sport on Friday, as well as a raft of other sporting programmes.

Helen Rollason was an advocate of disability sports, and helped to alter its public and media perception with her coverage of the 1996 Summer Paralympics.

Britain's Olympic team had been fairly unsuccessful at that year's Olympics, prompting Helen Rollason to urge viewers and the media to support what she called the "real" Olympics.

Helen Rollason began feeling unwell in 1996 during an eight-week assignment to the US, where she was covering that year's Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Helen Rollason was diagnosed with cancer of the colon in August 1997, which she was told had spread to her liver.

Helen Rollason was initially given three months to live, but confounded medical opinion by fighting the disease long after that.

Helen Rollason underwent treatment with chemotherapy, but used a combination of holistic therapies and diet to treat her condition.

Helen Rollason continued to work throughout her illness, despite sessions of chemotherapy that left her feeling weak, and cited her work as the thing that had kept her going throughout her treatment.

Helen Rollason cited the determination of the many disabled athletes she had got to know through her work as having given her the strength of mind to fight her illness.

In October 1998, the BBC aired a special edition of its QED documentary series titled Hope for Helen Rollason, which followed her as she underwent a course of treatment.

Helen Rollason later wrote of the incident, "I felt a mixture of horror, embarrassment and incredible warmth towards my colleagues that they should think of doing this".

Helen Rollason was appointed an MBE in the 1999 Birthday Honours for her services to broadcasting and charities, and in July 1999 attended a ceremony at Buckingham Palace to be presented with the honour by the Queen.

Helen Rollason died on 9 August 1999 at the age of 43, in Brentwood, Essex.

The building names on Helen Rollason Way include Adlington House, Boardman Place, Radcliffe House, Christie Court, Redgrave Court, Botham House, Faldo Court, Whitbread Place, Torvill Court, and MacArthur Place.