Mourning the Passing of Andy Whitfield

by Alex A. Kecskes

Andy Whitfield, who played Spartacus in the hit cable series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," passed away September 11th. The 39-year old actor lost his 18-month bout with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Born in Wales, Whitfield was little known when he was cast as the legendary Thracian slave in "Spartacus.” He appeared in 13 episodes of the first season that aired in 2010, and was preparing to shoot the second when he was diagnosed with cancer.

Not long ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Whitfield, who had just finished the first season of Spartacus. He looked fit and trim after undergoing his cancer treatments. He told me that his training for Spartacus was pretty rigorous. “We had Boot Camp and we trained for 5 days a week, four hours a day, said Whitfield. “There was no junk food. It was literally 5 grams of this, 20 grams of that. You get in really great shape, but then when Boot Camp’s over, you’ve got to shoot for 8 months and you have to stay in shape. That was the hard part. Boot Camp also included gymnastics and coordination games. And you build camaraderie with your fellow actors. That’s really a lot of fun, the part I liked the most.”

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is one of the most common types of cancers that originate in the lymphatic system—the body’s disease fighting network. In non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, tumors develop from lymphocytes (white blood cells) when the body produces too many abnormal lymphocytes. Normally, old lymphocytes die, and the body creates new ones to replace them. In non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the lymphocytes don't die, but continue to grow and divide. This creates an oversupply of lymphocytes, causing the lymph nodes to swell. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma can also spread to other parts of the lymphatic system. These include the lymphatic vessels, tonsils, adenoids, spleen, thymus and bone marrow.

If you’re considering a career in healthcare, you can expect to see people exhibit enormous courage as they fight terrible diseases. We all mourn the passing of Andy Whitfield. He was a fine actor and a remarkable human being.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions about helping people face terrible diseases, feel free to share them in the comments section.