North Carolina news presenter Larry Stogner has issued a heartbreaking goodbye on air after contracting Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Stogner has been presenting the ABC11 six o'clock news since 1976, and took part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge just five months before his diagnosis.
The locally beloved news anchor was forced to retire after 39 years due to his deteriorating health.
Larry Stogner takes part in the Ice Bucket Challenge in August 2014
"I am sure that in recent months, you’ve noticed a change in my voice, my speech slower," he said.
"Many of you were kind enough to email me ideas about what it might be, or just to show concern, and I truly appreciate that.
"As it turns out I have ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease.
"There is no cure. My career in broadcast journalism is coming to an end. I am blessed to have had the best job in the world."
The veteran broadcaster was inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame in 2010.
ALS is a form of motor neuron disease which causes the death of neurons controlling voluntary muscles. The average survival rate from diagnosis is three or four years, with only 10% surviving for over a decade.