Philadelphia Eagles player DeSean Jackson received a belated Christmas gift of $2,500 Friday night.
Employees at Penn Power Group in Northeast Philadelphia are using their inner-office Pollyanna to support Jackson's pancreatic cancer foundation while also supporting their co-worker of 23 years, Tom Seagraves. He was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer in August.
"There's just not enough awareness about pancreatic cancer out there," said Dawn Seagraves.
Raising awareness is Tom wife Dawn's mission. She says, for several months, doctors misdiagnosed her husband's cancer as chronic back pain.
"I just happened to Google back pain that wasn't alleviated by anything and the result came up pancreatic cancer," said Dawn.
It has been a long and difficult 5 months of intense treatment.
"I just talked to my doctors, and they are talking about full chemo for another two months," said Tom Seagraves.
DeSean Jackson understands and respects Seagraves' battle.
The football star lost his father to pancreatic cancer in 2009 after only 5 months of treatment.
"Just looking at him is really inspiring, because I can see him fighting. I can see that same look my dad had," said DeSean Jackson.
Inspired by his father's battle, Jackson stepped up to the frontlines and launched his cancer research foundation. It has also given him opportunities to bond with the community.
"Her son just made fun of me for my autograph, so I said sign on me. So Joshua added onto my tattoos," said Jackson.
Beyond the check presentation, Jackson and the Seagraves say they plan to partner with one another on future projects and help spread the word about pancreatic cancer.
