This is terrible and sad. Charles Krauthammer who spent many years as a commentator on Fox News stepped back from the network last year because of health problems. Today he has written a piece for the Washington Post describing his battle with cancer and the fact that he has only weeks to live:

In August of last year, I underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in my abdomen. That operation was thought to have been a success, but it caused a cascade of secondary complications — which I have been fighting in hospital ever since. It was a long and hard fight with many setbacks, but I was steadily, if slowly, overcoming each obstacle along the way and gradually making my way back to health.

However, recent tests have revealed that the cancer has returned. There was no sign of it as recently as a month ago, which means it is aggressive and spreading rapidly. My doctors tell me their best estimate is that I have only a few weeks left to live. This is the final verdict. My fight is over.

After thanking his doctors, family and colleagues he closes by saying he has no regrets: “I leave this life with no regrets. It was a wonderful life — full and complete with the great loves and great endeavors that make it worth living. I am sad to leave, but I leave with the knowledge that I lived the life that I intended.”

Even after he stepped away from Fox News, Krauthammer was never forgotten by viewers. Bret Baier made numerous updates on his absence in the past 10 months. Just three weeks ago on May 14th, Baier read part of an email Krauthammer had sent him in which he suggested the worst was finally behind him. “I’m finally getting back on track with the rehab schedule that will get me home,” the email said.

I never met him but Krauthammer always struck me as the best of the commentators on Fox News. He was intelligent and insightful but also maintained a sense of humor that always seemed to be just below the surface. I always got the impression that the people he worked with respected him and also that they liked him personally. There are already plenty of responses to his announcement showing up on Twitter from his colleagues that seem to verify both parts of that. Hopefully, Krauthammer will get to experience that outpouring over all of his remaining days.

Here’s the initial reaction from Fox News’ Chris Wallace: “You are a great man.”