If only he had received treatment one week sooner, things could have been different - this is the knowledge Lyndey Milan will live with for the rest of her life.
The celebrity cooking and media personality's son Blair was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2011. He would die just three days later.
"I'm talking to you about Blair now, and you know, I'm OK, but other times... you don't know... you just never know when it'll hit you,": she said.
"It's not something you get over. It's just part of your life that you live with."
September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month and Lyndey is on a mission to raise awareness in order to save lives, while also encouraging people who have not already done so to complete their wills.
This year the Leukaemia Foundation has partnered with online platform Safewill to present Free Wills Week from September 2-8.
During the week, Australians will have the chance to complete their wills for free, with all documents to be reviewed by Safewill's affiliate law firm, Safewill Legal.
Those who can afford to do so are also being encouraged to donate to the Leukaemia Foundation, which is working towards the goal of zero lives lost to the disease by 2035.
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Lyndey, who was forced to rush home from Europe to be by her dying son's bedside, said he had been a picture of health before his symptoms and subsequent diagnosis. He didn't smoke, exercised regularly, ate well, and didn't drink to excess.
"Blair was a very fit, healthy, joyful, positive 29-year-old. He made a conscious choice to be happy every single day of his life."
The mother and son duo were just about to launch TV Series Lyndey and Blair's Taste of Greece when he first mentioned persistent flu-like symptoms that wouldn't go away.
A month before his death he went to see a GP due to breathing difficulties and a general feeling of unwellness. The doctor said he was suffering from panic attacks and prescribed him anti-depressants.
His health issues persisted. A month later, he went to a 24-hour clinic, and the GP on duty ordered urgent blood tests. On his way home, he fainted due to anaemia. Three days after his test results confirmed the diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia, he was dead.
"I guess my message is, if in doubt about anything, a blood test is non-invasive, it's inexpensive, and it's easy to get," she said.
Lyndey has been a passionate advocate for blood cancer awareness behind the scenes since Blair's death. She and her late partner John Caldon set up the Blair Milan Foundation in partnership with Charles Sturt University. In recent years, she has taken on a more public role with the foundation to spread awareness.
One in 12 Australians will be diagnosed with a form of blood cancer in their lifetime, with 53 Australians being diagnosed every day.
One statistic that has always stuck with Lyndey is that five Australians whose deaths could have been prevented with timely diagnosis and best practice treatment lose their lives to blood cancer every day.
"That's five Blairs. That's five families, times 365 days a year who are going through what we've been through.
"They could have been saved... that's really not OK."
For more information on blood cancer visit leukaemia.org.au. For more information on how to complete you will visit safewill.com.
