Dustin Diamond 'was in a lot of pain' and struggled for breath in final moments, friend reveals
'Saved by the Bell' star Dustin Diamond died on Monday, February 1, of stage four lung cancer. While the statement released by his publicist claimed that Diamond "did not suffer," a friend of the late actor has revealed that he was in pain and was struggling for breath in the final moments of his brave battle with cancer.
Dan Block, his friend, told The Sun that Diamond had been taken from the hospital to begin hospice care at home, but tragically stopped breathing before he even got to his bed.
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Diamond was diagnosed with lung cancer in January, with his publicist releasing the statement, saying, "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."
Block told The Sun a different version of Diamond's last moments: "When I got here on Monday, he couldn't speak, he was gasping for air. It was a very awful sight. I know he was in a lot of pain." Block had flown in to be by Diamond's side.
He continued, "Then they released him to hospice care, I helped put him in the ambulance and drove with him home. They were setting up his bed and bringing him into the house and before he could get moved into his bed he stopped breathing and he had a DNR [Do Not Resuscitate]. He decided on the DNR because he did not want to be in pain anymore, he just wanted to go."
Block also said that he had spoken to Diamond last Thursday, before the latter's speech deteriorated. Diamond was reportedly excited about the future and thought he had weeks or months to live. Block said, "On Thursday night I knew it was going to be sooner than we originally thought."
He continued, "He told me he was dying, he told me he was in a lot of pain, but he was still excited about the future — he thought he would have a few more weeks or months. He thought five months."
Block said, "He was home three or four days and then he was going to go back to the hospital for treatment at the beginning of February. Then on Thursday he called me, told me he was in a lot of pain and was taking these pain pills and saying how he was waiting for them to kick in, then he had to get off the phone because his dad had flown in to see him."
Block continued, "He was really excited his dad was there, he was like, 'Dude my dad's here, he's at the airport, I'll call you later,' but he never did, that was the last time he actually talked to me. I heard in the morning that they called 911 because his breathing was really shallow and when they got him to the hospital his liver enzymes were elevated, he was jaundiced and they did a scan and found fluid in his lungs. It was really bad."
Block said he decided to fly down to see Diamond after the latter just spoke a few words on Sunday and that Diamond's girlfriend, Tash Jules had sent him audio of the star's labored breathing. "I just thought 'Oh my God' when I heard it. I'm an asthmatic, so I know what it's like not to breathe, but that sounded so bad," he said.
Block said, "I'm so glad I came. He couldn't speak but he could hear me. I was talking to him and telling jokes. I was saying to him that I never got his autograph. I was always getting autographs for other people, but I never got one for myself. And I joked, 'You never gave me an autograph so you have to pull through so when you're better you can do an autograph for me.' He was reacting to what I said, his eyes were moving, I'm sure he could hear me. But it was so hard to see him like that, poor Dustin."