by Sam Neill opened up about his health, revealing in a recent interview that he had been diagnosed with blood cancer.
The “Jurassic Park” star described the “dark moments” of last year when she learned of her cancer in an article for the Guardian published Friday.
“Those dark moments bring out the light sharply and have made me grateful every day and immensely grateful to all my friends. “I’m just happy to be alive,” he said.
According to the Guardian, 75-year-old Neill suffered from swollen glands while promoting 2022’s “Jurassic World: Dominion.” The actor’s doctor diagnosed him with Stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, shortly after noticing the swelling.
According to the American Cancer Society, a non-Hodgkin lymphoma is Stage 3 when the disease is present either in the lymph nodes on either side of the diaphragm (above and below) or in the lymph nodes above the diaphragm and in the spleen.
Neill reportedly received chemotherapy and started a new chemotherapy drug when the first treatment began to fail. The Guardian reports that Neill, now a cancer survivor, will take the drug every month “for the rest of his life”.
The actress, who starred in the TV series “Peaky Blinders” and “The Sullivans”, will also be published in her upcoming book “Did I Tell You This?”
“I never had any intention of writing a book. But as I kept going and writing, I realized that it actually gave me a reason to live, and I would go to bed thinking, ‘I’ll write this tomorrow…it’s going to entertain me,'” she said. “And that was really a lifesaver, because I couldn’t have done it without anything to do, you know.”
But readers, Neill’s “Did I Ever Tell You That?” as a “cancer book”.
Sam Neill in “Jurassic World: Dominion” as Dr. As Alan Grant.
(Universal Pictures)
“I can’t stand them,” he said. “I will never again read a bloody cancer book in my life.”
Instead, the actor sees his illness as a “coiled thread” that exists throughout the book.
Earlier in the Guardian’s story, Neill said he “couldn’t care less” about dying, but wanted “another decade or two” to enjoy the life and home he had.
“We built all these beautiful terraces, we have these olive trees and cypresses, and I want to be around to see them all mature,” he said. “And I have lovely little grandchildren. I want to see them grow.”
