Gerry Turner shares details of cancer diagnosis

Gerry Turner from The Golden Bachelor has shared heartbreaking details of his diagnosis with bone marrow cancer.

Speaking to PEOPLE, the 72-year-old said he found out about his condition after suffering a shoulder injury while playing pickleball three years ago.

“Finally I got around to going [to the doctor] and the orthopedic surgeon said, ‘Yeah Gerry, there’s not much we can do for your shoulder, but there are some unusual blood markers here,’” he said. “And so an orthopedic surgeon went to my family doctor, my family doctor referred me to an oncologist, and now I’m working with a hematology-oncology group in Fort Wayne.”

He continued: “Unfortunately, there’s no cure for it. So that weighs heavily in every decision I make.

“It was like 10 tons of concrete were just dropped on me. And I was a bit in denial for a while, I didn’t want to admit to it.”

Gerry said he received the news shortly before his divorce from the show’s winner, Theresa Nist.