Father with leukemia defies odds after given 3 weeks to live

A British father of three diagnosed with leukemia was told he had three weeks to live, so he began planning his funeral — that was over a year ago.

Dennis Blackman, 62, believed himself to be a healthy man when he entered his 50s. He went to the gym often and loved playing rugby with his sons.

That was until the former chartered building surveyor suffered a stroke in 2015 when he was 54.

His health continued to deteriorate over the years. Blackman had a hip replacement at 58 and began experiencing extreme exhaustion, cold hands, and muscle weakness.

As his symptoms worsened early in 2022, his wife, Sally, 62, a former flooring showroom manager, suggested he visit a doctor. He was told he looked like “Casper the ghost.”

Blackman spent six weeks at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in London undergoing blood tests and blood transfusions before being scheduled for a bone marrow biopsy.

Although he had “an idea” that he might have cancer, Blackman said he could never have prepared himself for the devastating diagnosis on March 31, 2022.

“I had a knock at the door, and I thought: ‘That’s ominous,’” Blackman told PA Live.

“The consultant and the specialist nurse came in and they said: ‘Unfortunately it’s bad news, you’ve got severe AML (acute myeloid leukemia), and there’s not a lot we can do at this stage.’”

AML is a rare type of blood cancer found in bone marrow that typically progresses rapidly.

Blackman was given three weeks to live.

He remembers his doctor told him: “You’ve got three weeks to live, and I’d advise you to go home and tell your wife and family, and make sure everything’s in order because you haven’t got long left.”

The loving family man didn’t know how to process the heartbreaking news.

“I just broke down, and I had this unbelievable feeling of guilt because I said to the consultant: ‘What have I done wrong? How do I tell my children and wife?’” Blackman recalled.

“It’s a huge burden to put on someone, to tell them that you’re dying, and it’s going to be very quick.”

But Blackman was determined to fight.

He was initially too weak to begin chemotherapy, but made it through the next three weeks and went on to spend the next three months in the hospital, from July to October, building his strength to begin the grueling treatments.

While he was happy to have survived longer than doctors anticipated, it broke his heart to miss family celebrations, including his grandson’s birthday party and stepdaughter’s wedding.

“We had many dark days, and every time I looked into my children’s eyes, I just burst into tears … it was a very emotional period for all of us,” he said.

It all seemed to come to a head in January 2023 when Blackman was told chemotherapy was “not working anymore.”

He was exhausted and simply wanted to “enjoy each day” rather than pursuing more aggressive forms of treatment.

He began planning his own funeral and Requiem Mass — going so far as to select the hymns to be performed — to give him “strength” and some control.

But 17 months after his initial diagnosis and 8 months after the chemotherapy supposedly stopped working, Blackman is still alive and enjoying time with his family.

“Every day you go to bed and you think: ‘Am I going to wake up tomorrow?’ And then each morning you think: ‘Is it going to be today that I’m going to die?’” Blackman shared.

“It was extremely difficult in the beginning, and I tried to shut the world out … but as time went on, I realized you can’t live like this forever.”

“You only get one life, so I’m going to do everything I can to keep fighting,” he added.