(Trinidad Express) Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning has been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, an aggressive form of bone marrow cancer. The news was shared overnight by Manning’s wife Hazel in a social media post.
She wrote “After conducting the appropriate tests, Mr Manning was diagnosed last evening as having Acute Myeloid Leukemia and is being prepared to undergo treatment. We ask for everyone for their support and prayers and ask that you continue to pray for him as he undergoes treatment”.Manning was admitted to hospital on Monday, in a private suite of the San Fernando general Hospital. In December 2008, Manning, then prime minister, had a cancerous tumour removed from his left kidney during surgery in Cuba. Before leaving the country, he held a press conference, and said: “I have no fear of death and therefore I have no undue concern in this matter”. In 2012, he suffered a stroke at his San Fernando home and was hospitalised at the San Fernando General before undergoing treatment in the US. During that time, the constituency office held prayer vigils for their MP and many said it was time for him to retire from politics. During the People’s National Movement screening for San Fernando East candidates in 2015, Manning did not offer himself as a candidate to be screened. He continues to undergo several forms of therapy. Manning, who entered Parliament in 1971, is the longest-serving MP in Trinidad and Tobago.