St George’s Hall was one of 139 landmarks across the UK to be lit up in purple for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month on Sunday night.
Pancreatic Cancer UK’s ‘Purple Lights For Hope’ campaign calls for landmarks across the UK to highlight the fifth deadliest cancer by embracing purple – the symbolic colour for pancreatic cancer – and shining purple lights.
St George’s Hall, which is at the heart of Liverpool’s St George’s Quarter, is taking part in the campaign throughout November in aid of pancreatic cancer awareness.
The spectacle was organised by the family of 67-year-old West Derby mum Lydia Gallagher, who died of the disease last year. They have since set up the Lydia’s Love Foundation.
Alex Gallagher, the founder of Lydia’s Love Foundation, told JMU Journalism: “I think it’s a great idea to light up local landmarks because it’s something that draws people’s attention, it gets the city behind the campaign, and shows those who are suffering from the disease or have lost loved ones to it that we’re all supporting them.”
Every year, almost 9,000 men and women will be newly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and due to late diagnosis, they will be faced with the fact that the disease has the lowest survival rate of all the 21 common cancers, with just four per cent of people living for five years or more after diagnosis.
Gallagher stressed the importance of seeing a doctor if you notice any symptoms, saying: “The most important thing of all, is if you think that you might have symptoms trust your gut and go to the doctor.
“I would show your doctor the symptoms from the Pancreatic Cancer UK website and insist on a referral for a scan. Hopefully with more people aware of the symptoms, they can get diagnosed earlier.”
Pancreatic Cancer UK aims to raise awareness and funds of pancreatic cancer to drive earlier diagnosis and more effective treatments for pancreatic cancer.