Townsville man given two years to live issues urgent plea over silent killer
With death sentence looming, this Townsville man is races against time to alert others about a killer that claims 8000 Australian lives annually.
A Townsville man who has just two years to live, is spending what time he has left educating people about a silent killer.
Malcolm Stephens said there wasn’t much he could do about his pancreatic cancer diagnosis but wanted others to check themselves before it was too late.
The diagnosis hit home for him too, with his grandfather also suffering a similar fate.
Mr Stephens said doctors tried to cut the cancer out, but during the operation they found the cancer had spread to his liver.
“They just said we’ll stop the operation now, we can’t do nothing more here,” Mr Stephens said.
“It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it goes, but I’ve committed myself to I know I’m going to die, that’s why I’m doing this so I can get the word out there to other people.”.
Mr Stephens said no matter what age you were, you need to get checked.
“Go out and get what they call a full blood count test, this test is for everything, this is how they pick this up,” he said.
“Even if you don’t need it, it takes five minutes of your time. It’ll tell you whether you got it, whether you’ve got this one or you’ve got any other cancer at all. ”
Mr Stephens has been working with Pancare Foundation, a not for profit charity dedicated to upper gastrointestinal cancers, and their counselling services.
Maryanne Coffey, community partnerships manager at Pancare, said pancreatic cancer was considered a silent killer.
“So 14,000 people are diagnosed with these cancers every year in Australia, and of those 8,000 will die,” she said.
“They (gastrointestinal cancers) haven’t had the attention of other cancers.”
According to the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative, an estimated 4,825 new cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed in Australia in 2025, with pancreatic cancer estimated to be the third leading cause of death in Australia.
Mr Stephens, the Pancare Foundation, and the North Queensland Cowboys will be hosting a fundraiser for pancreatic cancer.
“I am helping him put together something with his beloved Cowboys rugby league club,” Ms Coffey said.
“It’s just unbelievable when we were put in touch, because it is pancreatic awareness month in November, and Townsville is actually lighting up purple for pancreatic cancer awareness.”
More details on the fundraiser with the Cowboys are still to come, but people can donate money at the Herbert Hotel on Sturt Street.
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Originally published as Townsville man given two years to live issues urgent plea over silent killer
