Pancreatic Walk: Taking steps to ‘beat this disease’

Jon Sternberg, Sharon Hubbert, Michele Hubbert and Reed Sternberg [Photo: Denise Ritchie]

Riverside Park bloomed with hues of purple recently during an inaugural Lustgarten Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk to raise funds and awareness about pancreatic cancer. Walk organizer Margaret Kennedy lost her mother and cousin to pancreatic cancer eight years ago and wanted to do something to help turn the tide on this devastating disease.

More than 56,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, and because of late diagnoses and limited treatment options, the survival rate is less than 8 percent.

“People that are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer don’t have much time,” said Kennedy. “We need to eradicate this disease or, to be a little more realistic, early prevention is key. We need to kick butt and do everything we can to beat this disease.”

Walkers wore specially designed T-shirts, carried photos and posters, and wore race bibs penned with the names of friends and loved ones who have succumbed to pancreatic cancer.

Survivors are rare, especially beyond five years, so Gary Carmichael, a 10-year survivor, stood out among the crowd of walkers.

“I’m honored to be here to provide support to the Lustgarten Foundation,” he said. “I survived my pancreatic cancer and in those 10 years I have lost five personal friends that were all victims of pancreatic cancer. I am an anomaly in this whole fight.”

The mission of the Lustgarten Foundation is to fund scientific and clinical research of pancreatic cancer in the areas of diagnosis, treatment and prevention, with the ultimate goal of finding a cure. The nonprofit also provides information and clinical support services to patients and caregivers.

The foundation is the largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research in the world and to date has directed $188 million toward research in hopes of creating a larger community of survivors.

One-hundred percent of the proceeds from the walk support research aimed at early detection, better treatments and a cure for the disease.

For information, visit lustgarten.org.

Photos by: Denise Ritchie
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