When Barry Du Bois was first diagnosed in 2010 with plasmacytoma myeloma, an immune system cancer, his doctor gave him the heartbreaking news that he had three months to live.
“I wasn’t interested in that diagnosis,” Barry shares with Woman’s Day. “It looked pretty grim in the beginning but I applied the resilience that I’ve built over a lifetime, and, spoiler alert, I’m still here!”
After an extensive operation to stabilise his neck after his C1 vertebrae caved in, Barry, 65, underwent radiotherapy, which ended up saving his life.
Barry admits his initial diagnosis could have crushed him but he chose not to let it define him. Instead he turned a story of survival into one of growth.
“I think I’m one of the luckiest humans in the world that I have hundreds of thousands of people sending me love and strength,” Barry says. “My wife Leonie and my close friends and family are my rocks.”
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Barry and Leonie share twins, Bennett and Arabella, 13, who he calls his angels.
He says his former The Living Room hosts, Amanda Keller, Chris Brown and Miguel Maestre have also been his biggest supporters since he announced his cancer had returned as an incurable myeloma in 2017.
“The second person I told was Amanda Keller and she said, ‘If it was anyone else I’d be worried, but I know you can beat this’, ” says Barry. “We all catch up every month and deeply care about each other. Our bond is special and we’re very lucky to have each other.”
HELPING IN TOUGH TIMES
Since The Living Room finished in November 2022, Barry has become a keynote speaker as well as an ambassador for charities including RUOK and the Leukaemia Foundation.
And now he’s encouraging Australians to consider leaving a gift in their will to charity for Include A Charity Week.
“A lot of physical and mental health charities do work around research and, as someone who lives with blood cancer, it’s important to know the money I donate is going to help people going through a tough time,” he says.
