Rob Ford Diagnosed with Rare and Aggressive Cancer
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been diagnosed with a "very rare" and "very difficult" form of cancer that occurs in fat cells, for which he will undergo chemotherapy.
His doctor, Dr. Zane Cohen, told the Associated Press that Ford has a "malignant sarcoma tumor," which led Ford to be hospitalized and drop out of the mayoral race last week.
His brother, Doug Ford, is running for mayor instead. When he dropped out of the mayoral race, he signed onto the city councillor race. Initially, his nephew Michael Ford was running for councillor, but to make room for his uncle, Michael Ford moved to the race for school trustee. It is unclear if he will continue his campaign for city councillor, but has not yet publicly withdrawn from the race.
John Tory and Olivia Chow, Rob Ford's former mayoral competitors, now competitors of his brother, canceled a debate scheduled for this evening. Tory told The Toronto Star he is "optimistic Ford will have a complete and full recovery." He also told The Star "the campaign will go ahead when appropriate" but did not specify a date. Currently, Rob Ford still has not taken a leave of absence.
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In a statement to The Star last week, Rob Ford said "I could be facing a battle of my lifetime, and I want the people of Toronto to know that I intend to face this challenge head on, and win."
Doug Ford this statement to The Star:
My brother has been diagnosed with cancer and I can't begin to share how devastating this has been for Rob and our family.
He is an incredible person, husband, father, brother and son and he remains upbeat and determined to fight this.
Rob has always been so strong for all of us and now I ask us all to be strong for him.
Your kind words and well wishes mean everything to him right now.
Rob will beat this.
On behalf of Rob, his wife Renata, their children, and the entire Ford family, thank you all so much for your continued support and prayers.
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/09/rob-ford-diagnosed-with-rare-and-aggressive-cancer/380396/
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