In a recent emotional interview on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Howie Mandel and his daughter Jackelyn Shultz shared for the first time on camera that their family has been dealing with a major health struggle. They revealed that Jackelyn’s 9-year-old son, Axel, was diagnosed with leukemia but is now in remission.
Breaking down in tears, Jackelyn said Axel’s cancer was diagnosed after a family trip to Hawaii. The 69-year-old comedian and America’s Got Talent judge added that his grandson “is doing better and is in remission right now.”
Howie explained that Axel’s treatment included a bone marrow transplant from his sister and that the boy is still dealing with the after-effects. “Three, four years, and it’s still a struggle,” Howie said. “He doesn’t have an immune system, so he can’t go to school. He’s doing well. His leukemia is in remission. We’re just trying to build up his immune system.”
Jackelyn added that people often don’t realize the full scope of cancer treatment. “I don’t think people realize that there’s so much that goes into treatment that it’s not just the cancer alone, but it’s also the treatment afterwards and the follow-up,” she said, calling it a “really, really, really long, hard road.”
