On Sunday, November 10, 2019, the Murphy and Mangan families organized a fundraising walk to celebrate the life of Darlene Murphy-Mangan. On June 8, 2019, pancreatic cancer took Darlene’s life.

On World Pancreatic Cancer Day, November 21, the two families presented the walk proceeds of more than $30,000 to the University Hospitals Kingston Foundation (UHKF). The proceeds will support pancreatic cancer research at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC).
 
“From day one, Darlene’s wish was that the [event] proceeds would help increase awareness of pancreatic cancer, as well as go towards research that studies genetic testing and early detection of pancreatic cancer,” says Richard Murphy, Darlene’s spouse. “We hope that this gift will help in some small way, and we will definitely be organizing this fundraising event next year.”
 
“On behalf of the entire pancreatic cancer research team, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Murphy and Mangan families for this incredibly generous gift,” says Dr. Hammad, Medical Oncologist with the Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario. “This donation will help further our world-renowned research towards improving treatment and survival rates for one of the hardest-to-treat cancers – pancreatic cancer. This is a wonderful gift to give hope to patients and families fighting pancreatic cancer today.”
 
“We are inspired by the families, and we are grateful for the event’s incredible supporters,” says Tomás Zsolnay, President and CEO, UHKF. “It’s phenomenal that this event, in its first year, raised more than $30,000. We know a lot of hard work went in to this event to make it success.”