Montreal father and daughter raise awareness for pancreatic cancer at Sept. 19 5K

Enrico Proietti, a 62-year-old Montreal resident, was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer nearly two years before September 14, 2026, after a CT scan revealed a tumour near the pancreas. His symptoms — persistent pain in the stomach, back and abdomen, weakness and unexplained weight loss — had lasted months with no family history of the disease to prepare him.

"I got called by the doctor after doing a CT scan the week before," Proietti said. "He called me into the office and said, I need to see you. It just hit me like a truck. I thought at the very moment I just didn't know what to say. I was at a standstill. I couldn't believe what was going on to me."

The tumour's location made Proietti ineligible for surgery. He underwent more than 30 rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. "My body with chemo, it destroys the bad and the good," he said. Side effects included weakness, stomach aches, vomiting and neuropathy in his fingers and feet.

His daughter Alessia was in her mid-20s when she learned of his diagnosis. "There was no one in our family that had this cancer before, so it was a big shock," she said. She left work immediately upon learning, cried through her metro ride home, and stopped plans to travel to stay with her family as they came to terms with the disease. Others Alessia had known with pancreatic cancer did not survive.

"I wanted to raise awareness," Alessia said. On September 19, both will participate in the Kicking PancreAS 5K — described as a fun, inclusive 5K for all levels and abilities, with walk or run options — to raise funds and awareness for the disease.