The Deacon's Bench
A television news anchorman fighting brain cancer in Illinois told viewers he has only four to six months to live, but he hopes to work as long as he can.
During a newscast on Thursday, Dave Benton told viewers of WCIA-TV in Champaign that doctors recently told him that his brain tumor is too large for surgery or radiation.
The 51-year-old says he’ll try a new treatment to slow the tumor’s growth, but that his goal is to add ‘a few more days and make them the best they can be.’
Benton is a born-again Christian and said on-air that he believes he’s in God’s hands and knows that he will take care of the days ahead.
He thanked his viewers for their support in the emotional broadcast and says he wants to make the most of his final days.
Benton has a wife and two adult children. He grew up in Addison, a Chicago suburb, and graduated from Northern Illinois University.
Benton has worked at the station for nine years.
The news anchor always knew that was the career he was meant for and said from a young age, that’s what he wanted.
‘I wondered what it would be like to uncover stories about the neighborhoods where we lived and share them, so I decided to become a reporter.
‘I got a rush of excitement when my first story aired and I thought this is what it must be like.’
He was born in Buffalo, New York, and moved to Chicago at age five. He received a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast News from Northern Illinois University.
Benton had previously updated his fans of his cancer treatment earlier in the year via Twitter, but after completing radiation treatment in February, the cancer came back.
Read more. And watch the emotional video below.
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