Iconic sitcom star dies just three weeks after cancer diagnosis
Saved by the Bell actor Dustin Diamond has died aged 44.
The former child star - who was known for playing Screech in the popular 90s sitcom - had stage 4 lung cancer and was diagnosed just three weeks ago.
Taking to Facebook to announce the tragic news, his team revealed he passed away Monday morning, local time.
He was being treated in a hospital in Florida.
“We are saddened to confirm of Dustin Diamond’s passing on Monday, February 1st, 2021 due to carcinoma,” Diamond’s official social media page read.
“He was diagnosed with this brutal, relentless form of malignant cancer only three weeks ago.
“In that time, it managed to spread rapidly throughout his system; the only mercy it exhibited was its sharp and swift execution. Dustin did not suffer. He did not have to lie submerged in pain. For that, we are grateful.”
According to TMZ he was taken off breathing machines to transfer to hospice care.
A close friend of Diamond, Dan Block, said he had a "huge lump" on his neck for a long time but avoided going to the hospital out of fear people would take photos of him and post them online.
“I know that the reason he didn’t get help is because when he goes out people take pictures, put it on the internet and say not nice things about him,” Block told the publication last month.
“He’s subject to public ridicule all the time and it sucks. People need to know he is a human.”
His Saved by the Bell co-star Mario Lopez told Variety that he had urged his former colleague to seek treatment a few weeks ago.
“I actually just spoke with him a couple of weeks ago. He was reluctant to go in (to hospital) for a while because he didn’t know if anything was going to get out,” Lopez said.
And I said, ‘Bro, that’s foolish, you’ve got to get in there and take care of yourself and forget what people are saying.’
“Some people thought his illness was a joke, which is awful, but the internet always spills tales. When all of this was happening, I was optimistic that he would make a recovery, but it was obviously too late.
“From when I found out he was sick to his passing, it’s been incredibly quick. It’s so fresh, it’s incredibly hard to process.”
Diamond started his first round of chemotherapy just two weeks ago.
His family has a history of the disease, with his mother dying of breast cancer.