When Christine Edmonds lost her husband, Kevin, to pancreatic cancer just 18 months after he was diagnosed, she knew she wanted to do her part in helping to improve diagnosis and treatment.
With the support of family and friends, A Love for Life was created—a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for pancreatic cancer research at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center.
The Edmonds’ story actually began two years before Kevin’s diagnosis, when his sister, Nora, died of the same disease. After Kevin fell ill, he and Christine went from hospital to hospital looking to confirm their instincts of a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
Finally, an MRI on Christmas Eve 2010 showed the cancer, which had grown enough to be detected. Kevin immediately started clinical trials at the Abramson Cancer Center in the hopes of slowing the progress of his disease, as well as to help scientists better understand pancreatic cancer and contribute to finding better ways to treat it.
Sadly, these advancements didn’t come in time for Kevin and, shortly after his passing, friends from their neighborhood wanted to show their support for the Edmonds family and formed a dragon boat team in his honor. While only three members of the team had ever raced before, they won gold in their division: It was unheard of and magical.
A Love for Life
The race was A Love for Life’s humble beginning, and today the group hosts fundraising events throughout the year and has donated more than $400,000—and counting—to the Abramson Cancer Center in support of pancreatic cancer research.
For Christine, A Love for Life is a way for cancer survivors and families to heal and find hope.
“The people I loved and lost to pancreatic cancer inspired A Love for Life, but it is also a way to channel everyone's hopes that we can improve the outcomes for those struggling now,” Christine shared. “We did not call it The Kevin and Nora Edmonds Foundation; it might be that in my heart, but A Love for Life is an outlet, as well, for those who run on our teams or paddle or fundraise and donate. It is a way to avenge those that they have lost. For our teammates that have pancreatic cancer now, it is a way to stay positive and to write a different ending to what is usually a very sad story.”
In October 2016, A Love for Life had a fantastic turnout at their signature event: the International Dragon Boat Festival on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.
Two A Love for Life teams won gold in the Bucks County dragon boat race, and the following week they had more than 300 people and five teams race in Philadelphia. Mark O’Hara, MD, an early-career scientist and Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology, participated on team A Love for Life alongside pancreatic cancer survivors and champions.
"It is difficult for me as a doctor to not have better options for people facing pancreatic cancer,” Dr. O’Hara shared. “I want to be able to say ‘We can make you better. We will beat this thing.’ That is why I am passionate about cancer research and incredibly grateful to those who support our efforts.”
Dr. O’Hara is bringing innovative ideas to combating pancreatic cancer, and is the principal investigator for an immunotherapy clinical trial at Penn Medicine’s Pancreatic Cancer Research Center.
It is in thanks to our philanthropic partners such as A Love for Life that these ground-breaking treatments are available and studied—providing hope to patients and families facing this disease.
To support pancreatic cancer research, visit our fundraising page or contact Evelyn Schwartz at evelynsz@upenn.edu or 215-898-8625.