Frankford High baseball coach spreading awareness for men with breast cancer after beating the odds
The American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk is Sunday, October 15 at Cooper River Park in Camden, NJ.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Breast cancer isn't limited to women, men develop it too.
And they'll be among those at Cooper River Park on Sunday, October 15 for the 25th annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk.
A Philadelphia man is making his fight public to help other men in beating the odds of breast cancer.
We first met Juan Namnun during the last Red October, when Good Morning America surprised him with World Series tickets.
At the time, the lifelong Phillies fan and Frankford High baseball coach was on medical leave for breast cancer treatment. A year later, Juan's roller coaster ride continues.
"They had to remove quite bit of extra muscle because they found two tumors instead of one in the same place," he said.
That meant more complicated reconstruction and re-learning what used to be easy.
"I had to retrain to hold an umbrella, how to open a car door, how to open a refrigerator," he said.
Still, Juan and his wife Lena feel blessed. The youngest of their three sons is now in college, and Juan is on a mission with the American Cancer Society to make the world aware of breast cancer in men.
"People have started reaching out - 'Hey, I didn't know about this.' 'Thank you for giving this information', and I befriended some people, that I'm kind of giving them a voice," he said.
About 2,800 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and about 500 will lose their lives.
That's about an 80% survival rate, compared to a 91% five-year survival rate for women.
"Some of those are because they wait too long. They don't know there's treatments, they don't know there's screenings. We need to change that," he said.
"We should be talking about breast cancer for men just as much as we talk about it for women," added Michael Lynn Sills, a senior development manager with the American Cancer Society.
Juan says hearing Phillies broadcaster John Kruk mention it on-air was a step, but he and the American Cancer Society have some really big pitches in the works, well beyond this year's Red October.
"I'm making lemonade of all the lemons that I have," said Juan.
For more information on the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk or to register for the event, CLICK HERE.
