US Democratic Representative of Georgia, John Lewis, has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer after a routine medical visit with test that confirmed the diagnosis, his office announced Sunday.
According to CNN, the 79-year old Civil Rights icon will undergo treatment for the cancer.
“I have been in some kind of fight — for freedom, equality, basic human rights — for nearly my entire life. I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now,” Lewis, who in March 1965 joined forces with Martin Luther King Jr. to lead a voting rights march out out Selma, Alabama, said in a statement.
He continued later: “While I am clear-eyed about the prognosis, doctors have told me that recent medical advances have made this type of cancer treatable in many cases, that treatment options are no longer as debilitating as they once were, and that I have a fighting chance.”
Lewis, who is in his 17th term as a member of Congress, is vowing to continue his work, stating that he’ll return to Washington in the coming days to begin his treatment plan, which will last several weeks.
“I may miss a few votes during this period, but with God’s grace I will be back on the front lines soon,” he said.
Let’s pray for Lewis as he takes on this new fight.
