The St George Illawarra Dragons and Wests Tigers will be wearing #PurpleOurWorld socks to raise awareness for pancreatic cancer when they clash at ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park on Saturday, September 5.
The St George Illawarra Dragons have been personally affected by pancreatic cancer with halfback Benji Marshall losing his father at an early age.
Additionally, in July 2012, captain of the Wests Tigers Robbie Farah sadly lost his mother after she battled the disease for less than a year.
Until high profile people such as Patrick Swayze, Steve Jobs, Ian Ross and Peter Harvey were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, awareness surrounding this silent killer was minimal.
Yet, in 2015, 3030 cases of pancreatic cancer have already been diagnosed in Australia. It’s projected that 2710 people will not survive.[1]
Statistics:
- Around the world 330,372 people will die from pancreatic cancer each year.
- Only 6% of patients live beyond five years after diagnosis. This number has only slightly improved over the past 40 years.
- Pancreatic cancer is currently the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in Western societies. Within the next 10 years, it is projected to be the second highest.[2]
- The average survival is just six months.
#PurpleOurWorld, together with the Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra Dragons are hoping to change these statistics.
If you’re heading to the game, pop on some purple and help us spread the word.
Key dates:
- November – Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
- 13 November – World Pancreatic Cancer Day
For all media enquires please contact:
Jessica Abelsohn
E: info@purpleourworld.com
Ph: 0417 062 543
[1] Cancer Australia, canceraustralia.gov.au
[2] Garvan Research Foundation, Breakthroughs in Pancreatic Cancer
A bit more about #PurpleOurWorld
In August 2014, we lost a very special person. Wife, mother, nana, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin and very dear friend, Rochelle Goulburn.
Rochelle defied most medical odds and fought against the disease for 16 months.
Around the time of diagnosis and throughout the past three years, we found that there was very little awareness (or funding) for pancreatic cancer.
So we decided to do something about it.
For the first World Pancreatic Cancer Day we asked everyone we could to pop on something purple and share a picture on social media using the hashtag #PurpleOurWorld.
We estimate that the number of people who took part reached about 2000 around the world. We’re hoping for more this year.
Chris Bath, Damian Ryan, Mark Ferguson and Samantha Brett shared our initiative on Twitter as did Fitzy & Wippa. Paul Murray got on board, sharing on Twitter and Facebook and wearing a purple tie on his Sky News show, Paul Murray Live. From Fox Sports, FoxCricketLive, Mark Bosnich, Tom Chadwick and Adam Peacock tweeted to their followers as did Wests Tigers Captain, Robbie Farah.
We reached New York, Chicago and Charlottesville in the US, South Africa, Singapore, London, Israel, Paris and Bali. In Australia, #PurpleOurWorld stretched to Dubbo, Armidale, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast and Newcastle, among other cities.
Since then, Wests Tigers captain, NSW Hooker and Australian representative player Robbie Farah, as well as media personality Tracey Spicer, who also lost her mother to the disease, have come on board as ambassadors. We have also partnered with the Avner Nahmani Pancreatic Cancer Foundation and GI Cancer Institute as charity partners and we’re working with several other organisations to further the pancreatic cancer cause.
Website: www.purpleourworld.com
Twitter: @PurpleOurWorld
Facebook: Purple Our World
Instagram: Purple Our World
#PurpleOurWorld 