WASHINGTON — Democratic Representative John Lewis, a hero of the U.S. civil rights movement, said on Sunday he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Lewis, 79, who endured beatings by white police and mobs during the 1960s civil rights movement and won further respect as a foremost black member of the U.S. Congress for more than three decades, said he was “clear-eyed” about the severity of his diagnosis. “I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now,” Lewis said in a statement. “I may miss a few votes during this period, but with God’s grace I will be back on the front lines soon,” he said. Lewis was a protégé of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Source: National Post December 29, 2019 23:48 UTC