A television news anchorman in Illinois suffering from brain cancer told viewers that doctors have given him just months to live but that he wants to work for as long as possible.
Dave Benton, news anchor for WCIA-TV in Champaign for 9 years, said during a live newscast that his doctors have told him he has a brain tumor too extensive for either surgery or radiation.
Benton said he has been battling the disease for a year and completed a round of radiation treatment in February, but has suffered a recurrence of the tumor.
He said he would be undergoing a new antibody and immune system treatment in an attempt to slow the growth of the tumor and gain as much time as possible, even if it is measured in just days.
"Doctors say I have anywhere from four to six months before things turn bad," Benton wrote in a statement on the station's website. "I'm dedicated to keep working. I'll be here bringing you the news as long as I am able."
Benton, 51, is married and has two adult children. Born in New York, he grew up in a suburb of Chicago and is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, where he received his degree in broadcast news.
Journalism was always the career he wanted from an early age, he says.
In an emotional segment at the end of a newscast with co-anchor Jennifer Roscoe, Benton thanked viewers for their expressions of support, adding that he wants to make his final days the best he can.
"The viewers have so supported me through this," said Benton, who has shared his struggles publicly on Twitter throughout his illness and acknowledged other people facing similar situations. "They, too, deserve that support -- because it's not just really only about me."
Benton said his faith as a born-again Christian was sustaining him.
"I believe that I'm in God's hands," he said. "I'm in peace, and I know that he's going to take care of the days ahead and that the goal here is to have the best ones possible."
