Illness
Brudnoy was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1988, but kept his treatment a secret until his condition became serious after contracting pneumonia in 1994. He was absent from public life for some time to fight the disease. Comatose and near death at one point, he eventually returned to reasonable health. It was at that time, in order to conserve his strength, that he broadcast his show from his apartment in the Back Bay section of Boston during part of 1994. Once he was able to return to the air, Brudnoy announced the creation of a fund to fight AIDS. His illness inspired him to publish a memoir, Life is not a Rehearsal (ISBN 0-571-19933-X), in 1997. At the time, it was not a best-seller, but after he died, it became a collector's item, since his publisher had originally let it go out of print and now many of his fans wanted copies of it.
In September 2003, he was diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare form of skin cancer. After hospitalization and treatment, including another period of being considered near death, the cancer went into apparent remission, and Brudnoy returned to work, with a strained voice, in March 2004. However, in November 2004, doctors discovered that cancer had spread into his lungs and kidneys, forcing him to undergo dialysis in addition to cancer treatment.
Brudnoy checked into Massachusetts General Hospital on December 3, 2004. On December 8, Brudnoy made his last radio appearance on his show via a deathbed interview with WBZ reporter Gary LaPierre. The following day, Brudnoy ordered his doctors to remove all artificial life support systems, leaving him only with oxygen, morphine, and minimal food. He died hours after having the support removed, on December 9, 2004.
After a few days of on-air remembrance, Brudnoy's time slot was assigned to Paul Sullivan, who had previously taken over two hours of Brudnoy's shift when Brudnoy's illness necessitated reducing his show from five hours to three. Sullivan too would die of cancer, on September 9, 2007.
A public memorial was held for Brudnoy on February 27, 2005, at the Cutler Majestic Theater in Boston, arranged by his WBZ colleagues and Emerson College (which had previously awarded him an honorary doctorate). The memorial service included the participation of the brothers of the Phi Alpha Tau fraternity of Emerson College whom Brudnoy had mentored.
Read more about this topic: David Brudnoy
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