Paul says that Diamond had been “feeling out of sorts and he’d had a lump on his neck that he was ignoring” before he wasdiagnosedwith stage 4 small cell carcinoma, a cancer that commonly occurs in lungs, but can also manifest in the prostate or gastrointestinal tract.
“He was afraid of the public attention if he went into the hospital. But finally, his girlfriend took him and the doctors confirmed it was cancer,” Paul says.
Dustin Diamond.Chris Polk/FilmMagic
“Of course he was scared, but he tried to find the humor in it. He did chemo — he tried everything possible. But it didn’t work,” the manager says. “Dustin tried to be as positive as he could throughout everything — that’s who he was — but he was scared.”
“He didn’t want to die,” Paul adds.
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Diamond was diagnosed with the “brutal, relentless form of malignant cancer only three weeks ago,” hisrep told PEOPLEearlier on Monday.
“In that time, it managed to spread rapidly throughout his system; the only mercy it exhibited was its sharp and swift execution,” his rep said. “Dustin did not suffer. He did not have to lie submerged in pain. For that, we are grateful.”
Diamond’s repconfirmed the actor’s cancer diagnosisto PEOPLE on Jan 14. The actorstarted chemotherapya week later.
“Dustin, you will be missed my man. The fragility of this life is something never to be taken for granted. Prayers for your family will continue on…“wrote Mario Lopez on Instagram.
Diamond was one of the six core cast members of the beloved teen sitcom, which ran for four seasons from 1989 to 1993 on NBC. Unlike the others, hedid not reprise his rolefor thePeacock rebootof the series, which debuted its first season in November 2020.
source: people.com
