Cancer Survivors Continue Fight, Celebrate Victory

Aretha Franklin performs as thousands gather for Celebrating Life and Liberty event.

Lauren Heaney’s daughter Emilia was only 6 months old when she as told she had lymphoma. Heaney never felt sorry for herself. She had a single goal in mind from the minute she was diagnosed: Survive. “It was never, ‘I hope I’m going to beat this.’ It was always ‘I’ve got to fight harder’,” said Heaney, a first-grade teacher in Wayne. Heaney was the emcee of the fourth annual Celebrating Life and Liberty gathering. More than 3,000 attended the event Sunday at Liberty State Park in Jersey City. The John Theurer Cancer Center (JTCC) at Hackensack University Medical Center sponsored the event. Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul and a pancreatic cancer survivor, performed on stage with an orchestra and back-up singers. She sang Gospel songs and…

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