William Shatner and his daughter Melanie Shatner Gretsch have revealed a devastating family health battle that sounds almost impossible to believe: both were fighting Stage 4 cancer at the same time.

The 95-year-old Star Trek legend and his 61-year-old daughter opened up in a new interview with People, sharing that they were both diagnosed with advanced cancer within roughly a year of each other — a terrifying ordeal they kept largely private as they leaned on one another behind the scenes.

Even more stunning, both are now cancer-free.

Melanie said her nightmare began in 2022, after she discovered a lump in her breast. Doctors later diagnosed her with Stage 4 breast cancer, launching her into a grueling year-and-a-half fight that included multiple rounds of chemotherapy, HER2-targeted therapies, a double mastectomy and 30 rounds of radiation.

But as frightening as her own diagnosis was, Melanie admitted she was also terrified about her famous father’s health.

“I remember vividly thinking, ‘I don’t have the strength to take care of myself and lose my father at the same time,’” she told People.

Then, just as Melanie was nearing the end of her treatment, Shatner noticed something alarming on his own body: a lump on his cheek.

That lump turned out to be a tumor. The beloved actor was later diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma in 2023, with the cancer spreading to his lungs and brain.

Shatner underwent surgery to remove the tumor from his face, then began two years of immunotherapy aimed at attacking the cancer that had already reached other parts of his body.

“We got the perfect doctors for her cancer and my cancer,” Shatner said.

For fans who know Shatner as the unstoppable Captain Kirk, the diagnosis was a chilling reminder that even Hollywood icons face terrifying private battles far from the spotlight. But according to Melanie, her father refused to let the illness take over his life.

She said Shatner “wouldn’t stop his life” and “kept working and moving forward” through treatment.

When he was home, Melanie and her husband, actor Joel Gretsch, made sure he was not isolated during the ordeal.

“Whenever he was home, Joel and I would bring dinner to him and watch movies, just always made sure that he’s not alone,” she recalled.

The father-daughter pair also supported each other in practical ways. Melanie, who shares two children with Joel, said her dad helped ease the crushing financial anxiety that often comes with cancer care.

She recalled Shatner telling her, “I do not want you to worry. Just send me the bills.”

And in classic Shatner fashion, he even found a way to make her laugh during one of the darkest periods of her life.

“Then you made me laugh so hard when I was still going to the doctor a year later,” Melanie said. “You said, ‘You’ve got to get well. We’re going to be in the poorhouse!’”

Now, after surviving their back-to-back cancer battles, Shatner and Melanie are turning their experience into a new project. The two are launching a podcast called No Time but Now, where they plan to interview health experts and other cancer survivors.

The podcast appears to be more than just another celebrity venture. For Shatner, it is tied to a deeper message about fear, survival and finding meaning when life becomes frighteningly fragile.

“It’s easy for us in this lovely home to say, ‘Make your life meaningful,’” he told People. “It’s much more difficult to be poverty-stricken and wonder how you’re going to get through it. I’ve been there. But it’s also possible to endure that and be aware of the beauty around you.”

Melanie said surviving cancer changed the way she sees the world.

“[Overcoming cancer] changed my life,” she said. “I’m not so afraid anymore, and there’s so much freedom and joy.”

Shatner, who first revealed his cancer diagnosis in 2023, has been candid lately about aging and mortality. In an interview with TV Insider earlier this month, the actor admitted he has become more “fearful” of death as he grows older.

“I’m always asking questions, because the older I get, the more fearful I will be to die with a question on my mind,” he said.

Then, with his trademark wit, he joked about the terrifying possibility of discovering the meaning of life just a moment too late.

“What’s the meaning of life?! Damn; the meaning of life is — and boom! I’m dead!” he said. “It’s the fear of not knowing what you could have learned. I get excited by comprehending and apprehending information.”

In a separate interview with Hello! magazine, Shatner said his current “motivation” is brutally simple: not dying.

“I want to stay healthy and functioning, and I’d like to pass away in my sleep because…I have people I love, my family, my dogs,” he said.

For decades, Shatner has been known as one of entertainment’s most enduring stars, a performer who has outlasted generations of Hollywood fame and reinvented himself again and again. But his latest revelation may be one of his most human moments yet.

Behind the larger-than-life persona was a father fighting cancer while watching his daughter fight her own battle — and a daughter trying to survive while fearing she might lose him.

Now, both are still here, both are speaking out, and both say the experience has left them with a renewed sense of urgency.

For William Shatner and Melanie Shatner Gretsch, there really is no time but now.