By james art - Melissa Gilbert has opened up about the “brutal and devastating” disease that claimed the lives of Michael Landon and Patrick Swayze.
- She raises awareness of pancreatic cancer through her lifestyle brand Modern Prairie.
- She shared why she works with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN).
When Melissa Gilbert founded her lifestyle brand Modern Prairie, she vowed to use it to make a difference. Now she’s doing just that by raising awareness for pancreatic cancer, a cause that really hits home for the former child star.
The 60-year-old lost two close friends to the “brutal and devastating disease”, she said people: she Little House on the Prairie co-star and father Michael Landon (who played Charles Ingalls) and her longtime boyfriend and actor Patrick Swayze. (Landon died in 1991 at 54, and Swayze died in 2009 at 57.)
Gilbert witnessed firsthand how cancer destroyed their livelihood. “I feel like a tornado. You have no warning,” she said. “It’s just there, and the survival rate is almost zero.” According to the National Cancer Institute, the five-year survival rate is 12.8 percent. It is difficult to diagnose in time because there are minimal preliminary symptoms.
“I’ve seen Michael have meningitis, I’ve seen him with broken bones, I’ve seen him with many illnesses in the time we’ve been together. But it took him and destroyed him so quickly,” Gilbert recalled. The case was similar to Swayze. “Literally nothing has brought this guy down and this is going to do it?” she added, meaning Dirty dancing star. “He was able to fight a lot longer than Michael Landon. But still… You see them before and you see the pictures of them going through it and it’s devastating.”
So when it came time for Modern Prairie to choose an organization to partner with and raise funds for, Gilbert’s decision was easy. She and her brand work with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), “the first organization dedicated to fighting pancreatic cancer in a comprehensive way,” according to the organization’s website.
On Oct. 14, Modern Prairie debuted a capsule collection of Lavender Bloom items—bags, blankets, beanies and more—dressed in November’s Pancreas Awareness Month in a shade of purple. A portion of sales proceeds go directly to PanCAN.
“Whatever I can do to support the organization,” Gilbert explained. “The world can be scary when you think about all these things that are out there. So why don’t we all put our heads together, put our pockets together, put our hearts together and do everything we can to eradicate this scourge that is cancer, and especially pancreatic cancer.
In addition to purchasing from the Lavender Bloom collection, to contribute to PanCAN’s efforts, you can donate directly here.