A Person Not a Cause

By Neil Cavuto

Published May 20, 2015

I have received an unusually heavy reaction to press reports that I've renewed my contract at Fox for another few years.

But not so much the renewal as the health details — health issues I don't hide that were included.

Eliza K. e-mails:

"Why did I have to read USA Today to find out you had cancer and are now battling multiple sclerosis? I have MS and we need all the publicity we can get. You have a chance to speak for us, and you seem to be ashamed of us. I really like you. But I'm disappointed in you."

I'm sorry you feel that way, Eliza. But I'm not a cause and I'm not a platform. I'm just a guy trying to do a job. And a guy who doesn't want to be known for the disease I have, but the person I am.

I'm not into celebrity ailment causes. Because I've had a couple of illnesses myself, it would be arrogant of me to play one over the other.

Or to tell people simply because I have MS, it's more important than the next guy who has Parkinson's, or the frail woman who has macular degeneration. A lot of people suffer and many a lot more than me.

The best I can do, Eliza, is prove a battered body need not mean a battered mind.

I don't hide these things. I just prefer to focus on positive things. I'm all for research and development into cures for a whole host of ailments not just the ones that afflict me.

My boss renewed my contract because of what I do here, not because of what I have here. Isn't that the way you'd like to be treated, Eliza? Not as a cause, but as a person?

You say I let you down for not speaking up. I prefer to lift you up without being down.

What do you think? Send your comments to: cavuto@foxnews.com. And watch Neil Cavuto's Common Sense weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on Your World w/Cavuto.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/story/a-person-not-a-cause