The Treatment That Gave Him Hope
Neill underwent CAR T-cell therapy, an advanced form of immunotherapy that uses a patient’s own immune cells, modifies them to recognize cancer, and returns them to the body to fight the disease.
In April, after receiving treatment as part of an Australian clinical trial, Neill shared extraordinary news.
A scan had shown no detectable cancer in his body.
He described the result as extraordinary and expressed excitement about the possibility of returning to work.
For someone who had spent years confronting a life-threatening illness, it was a remarkable moment of hope.
The News Nobody Expected
On July 13, 2026, Neill’s family announced that he had died suddenly at a hospital in Sydney, Australia.
He was 78.
His family said that he had been surrounded by loved ones and emphasized the unexpected nature of his death. They also noted that he remained cancer-free at the time of his passing.
No cause of death was publicly provided in the family’s announcement.
That distinction is important. His death occurred only weeks after the announcement of remission, but there is no evidence in the available reporting that his cancer had returned or that cancer caused his death.
