Fran Forcione
Sometimes people are more than spectators in life, they're participants. Fran Forcione of Dataw Island is a participant.
A 70 year old, two-time survivor of lymphoma, a type of cancer that originates in lymphocytes of the immune system, Forcione uses his good fortune and story to help raise awareness of cancer through the Dataw Dames and Dandies Relay for Life team.
Diagnosed with his first bout with lymphoma in 1980, he had treatment and went into remission, attributing winning the battle to being physically fit, family support and staying positive.
“I had no (cancer) symptoms, but through a routine hernia surgery, the doctors noticed something abnormal with my lymph nodes. They performed a biopsy and I was very lucky that the cancer was found early,” said Fran.
While recouping during hernia surgery and through chemotherapy, Fran continued to exercise and believes that doing this also helped in his fight. His doctor told him that while undergoing chemotherapy treatments that he'd help him gain medical leave from his job with Amtrak, but Fran declined, believing that “keeping busy helped me (beat cancer).”
Always a physically fit person, after his first bout with cancer, Fran decided to dedicate his life to staying in top shape and in particular, running marathons.
“I'd run one marathon previously to my first diagnosis. After going through treatment and going into remission, I set a goal of running the Boston marathon. I qualified just before relapsing in 1984 and I was unable to run it in 1985 because of chemo,” said Fran. “However, I did run get the chance to run it in 1986.”
Fran has run a total of 17 marathons. Only one was run before his second diagnosis.
Moving to Dataw permanently in 1999 from the West Coast, Forcione and his wife Linda originally visited the area in 1992 after viewing the movie “The Prince of Tides,” which was filmed in the Beaufort area.
“Linda and I came to Dataw in 1992 for a weekend visit after seeing the movie and actually bought property that weekend,” said Fran.
After coming to Dataw, Fran joined the Dataw Dames and Dandies Relay for Life team. Since that time the team has become the highest money-raising team in the Northern Beaufort County region. The group does numerous things to raise money for the American Cancer Society, including an on-island “celebrity” cake auction, selling luminaries and selling sponsorships for Fran's participation in the Hunting Island Adventure Biathlon.
“Because I do the biathlon, we use it to raise money for the Relay for Life team. We ask folks to contribute to the cause through sponsorships, and all monies go to our team's cause,' said Fran. “This year, the race went well and I finished in the middle of the pack, raising $5,500 in the process.”
Fran says that he couldn't do it without the support of his fellow Dames and Dandies and feels that setting an example to help others find it in them to beat cancer is truly important.
“I've been given 29 years thus far instead of the usual seven that lymphoma patients have. One of things try to do, because I'm lucky, is when I find out about friends or friend's friends with cancer, I try to encourage them with my story,” said Fran. “I really believe in keeping a positive attitude and thinking about nothing other than getting better and on with one's life.”
In addition, Fran wanted to thank the following members of his team for their hard work and support:
• Katie & Phil Sutphin
• Barbara & Bob Anderson
• Bob & Gay Farmer
• Carolyn & Colin Collins
• Joan & Tony Silvestri
• Jean & Joe Jones
• Blythe & Roger Finlay
• Sue & Paul Mannheim
• Judy & Pat Carberry
• The 70 Dataw Residents and 11 Beaufort-area businesses that contributed to the biathlon
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