Wantagh Resident Raising Awareness About Pancreatic Cancer

A Wantagh resident whose mother passed away from pancreatic cancer 15 years ago has joined forces with others from the New York tri-state area in November to help find a cure for the deadly disease.

John McNeal, 28, of Wantagh took part in The Lustgarten Foundation's curePC Courage project in honor of November being Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. The project, which was also produced with Cablevision Systems Corporation, is a series of online video tributes in honor of those impacted by pancreatic cancer and loved ones lost to the disease.

McNeal was only 13 years old in 1997 when his mother suddenly passed away from pancreatic cancer, a time when little was known about this deadly disease. The Wantagh resident spent many years trying to make sense of her death, and now finds it is uplifting to take action in his mother’s memory. He joined The Lustgarten Foundation and Cablevision’s curePC campaign to help spread the word about pancreatic cancer in his mother’s honor and is hopeful that recent  research advancements will lead to an early detection test and ultimately a cure.  

“We are extremely grateful to John and to the other curePC Courage Project participants for sharing their deeply moving personal stories in order to help raise awareness about pancreatic cancer,” said Kerri Kaplan, executive director of The Lustgarten Foundation. “Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease that, like with John’s mother, is often detected too late. That’s why the Foundation is dedicated to funding research to detect the disease earlier, develop better treatments and to find a cure.”