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Jason Merrill
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ST. LOUIS - The NBA’s All-Time Leading Scorer, Hall of Famer and cancer survivor Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took time during a trip to St. Louis to visit with cancer patients at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.
Abdul-Jabbar is in St. Louis to host the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation’s annual “illumination” gala, Saturday May 15 at the Chase Park Plaza. He announced in November 2009 his own battle with cancer as he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia.
(To view a video on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's visit to Siteman, click here.)
Siteman Cancer Center deputy director John DiPersio, MD, PhD and Barnes-Jewish Hospital president Rich Liekweg led Kareem on a tour of the cancer center to meet a few patients before being presented with an "illumination10" baseketball jersey.
Since 1999, the “illumination” gala has generated millions of dollars to support the Siteman Cancer Center – the only National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center within 240 miles of St. Louis – in the fight against cancer. The 2009 event alone netted more than $1.4 million for the Cancer Frontier Fund, which will lead to innovations that enable physicians to treat cancer more effectively by personalizing a patient’s therapy based on the genetics or molecular makeup of his or her cancer.
For photos of Abdul-Jabbar's visit, click here.