‘It’s not my time to go yet’
The brave TV star is feeling positive as he leans on his family and loving co-stars through cancer treatment
The Living Room co-host Barry Du Bois, adored throughout Australia, has been bravely battling through rounds of chemo as he does everything he can to fight cancer for the second time.
No matter how bad things get, Barry, 57, won’t give up, vowing to remain defiant in the face of the deadly disease. He chatted with co-host and good friend Amanda Keller when she made a surprise hospital visit last month.
“I got really angry,” he said, fighting back tears from his hospital bed. “But I said, ‘This can’t be my time.’”
Proud of her friend’s strength, a teary Amanda told him, “There’s so much love for you Baz. Everywhere I go people say, ‘Give my love to Baz.’”
In October last year, Barry announced his plasmacytoma myeloma – an aggressive form of cancer that attacks healthy bone marrow – had returned after six years in remission.
But he has focused on staying positive, and is spending as much time as he can with his wife Leonie and their five-yearold twins Bennett and Arabella.
LOVING FAMILY
Describing himself as “the luckiest man alive”, the designer and builder has even managed to attend some of the twins’ key milestones over the past few months, including their dance recital and Bondi Surf Club Nippers sessions.
“Making it to my angels’ recital sort of sums up my life. It’s the best life I could have and I’m the luckiest man alive,” he gushed in December.
As well as finding strength through such special moments, Baz credits Leonie for helping him through this mentally and physically tough time.
Baz posted a picture of his wife on Valentine’s Day, with the caption, “My love, my life, my rock, my wife. In every up or down we’ve faced, you’ve given me the strength to get it done and thanks to you I will get this done soon and be back home with my beautiful family. #happyvalentinesday #loveyou.”
SUPPORT OF FANS
Meanwhile, fans continue to send their well wishes to Baz and have praised him for his “humble bravery” – yet another factor he considers as imperative to his recovery.
“I don’t think love is far off fixing the world,” he told Amanda. “The little bit of love and the little bit of humanity is what really keeps you going.”
The much-loved television star has retained his sense of humour, and frequently updates his Instagram followers with light-hearted posts on his progress.
“400mg chemo, 12 million stem cells, loads of diarrhoea, nausea, infection and fever. BUT I’M COMING BACK BABY!!!
“I’m on the home run. Thanks to everyone for your love and support,” he wrote alongside a picture of himself being treated at St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Sydney.
‘Everywhere I go people say, “Give my love to Baz”’