Unique effort raises awareness for pancreatic cancer research

A unique effort to raise awareness for pancreatic cancer and the research going on at the University of Nebraska Medical Center was launched today.

The initiative is the idea of Ken Tolton of Atlantic, Iowa, co-owner of Duke Aerial, Inc., a construction equipment rental business. Tolton’s wife, Linda, was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in July and was given six months to one year to live. She is only 45 years old.

To call attention to pancreatic cancer, Tolton is painting 25 booms and scissor lifts purple, the color of pancreatic cancer awareness, with the inscription, “Rise Up For Cancer Research.” The first boom was on the job site at Aksarben Village in Omaha today.

At no cost to its customers, Duke Aerial will donate a percentage of the fees to rent the purple construction equipment to the “Linda Tolton Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund” at the University of Nebraska Foundation. The fund will benefit the research of UNMC cancer specialist Jean Grem, M.D. Learn more about the fund here.

Ken Tolton, right, co-owner of Duke Aerial Inc., and Jay
Noddle, president and CEO of Noddle Companies, shake
hands in front of one of Duke's purple construction booms.
The company painted 25 booms and scissor lifts
purple -- the color of pancreatic cancer awareness.
Tolton's wife, Linda, has stage four pancreatic cancer and
Noddle's father, Harlan, lost his life to the disease in 2005.

UNMC is one of the leading centers in the country for pancreatic cancer research. The National Cancer Institute recently awarded a $5.3 million, five-year Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant in pancreatic cancer to the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center. Dr. Grem and Tony Hollingsworth, Ph.D., are principal co-investigators on the grant.

“When Linda was first diagnosed, nobody in my world knew how serious pancreatic cancer is,” Tolton said. “There is a perception that most cancers can be treated and cured with surgery and chemotherapy, but that is not the case with pancreatic cancer when caught at a later stage.”

Currently, tools for early detection of pancreatic cancer do not exist, which is a major reason why it's a leading cause of cancer death. Signs and symptoms typically don’t appear until pancreatic cancer is quite advanced, which is exactly what happened in Linda’s case.

She didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary until she began experiencing severe stomach pains this past June. Doctors now believe the pains were due to a cancerous tumor that had spread to her liver. She has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments at UNMC since August.

“The goal of painting part of our fleet purple is to raise the awareness and educate people about pancreatic cancer,” Tolton said. “By doing this, we can build research dollars to hopefully, some day, prevent this from happening to other families.

“Cancer is not the death sentence it was 20 years ago. Today, many types are very treatable. Linda and I just want that to be the case with pancreatic cancer in the future.”

After hearing about the Toltons’ pancreatic cancer awareness campaign, one Omaha family was the first in line to participate.

Jay Noddle, who ironically already was renting equipment from Duke Aerial Inc., is the first to feature a purple boom on his Aksarben Village job site and plans to encourage others in the industry to rent the same equipment.

Noddle, president and CEO of Noddle Companies, a commercial real estate development firm headquartered in Omaha, is excited about the prospect of more research funding for pancreatic cancer, a disease that took the life of his father, Harlan Noddle, in 2005.

“Our family knows how difficult a pancreatic cancer fight can be, and we are very supportive of anything we can do to raise awareness and money for pancreatic cancer research,” he said.

“My dad was a patient at the Med Center, and as I’ve said many times, as difficult as these battles with pancreatic cancer are, the Med Center does a terrific job.”

Harlan Noddle, a staunch supporter of the Med Center and one-time chairman of the board of the University of Nebraska Foundation, posthumously received the Marge and Chuck Durham Spirit of Nebraska Award at the 2006 Ambassador of Hope Gala in Omaha.

Asked what his father would think of Duke Aerial’s decision to paint equipment purple in the name of pancreatic cancer awareness and research, Noddle responded, “I know he’d think the idea these folks have is terrific and want to make sure we had purple lifts at all our job sites.”

Though November happens to be pancreatic cancer awareness month, Tolton is committed to supporting and spreading the message on the importance of cancer research long-term.

“I don’t intend on repainting them, so there will be some longevity to this,” he said. “I sincerely hope it has an impact well into the future, until a cure is found.”

For more information about how you can help, visit www.dukeaerialinc.com.

In addition to the Omaha/Council Bluffs store, the company also has locations in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, St. Joseph, Mo. and Kansas City, Kan.

The University of Nebraska Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation that has raised private gifts to support the University of Nebraska for 72 years. Last year more than $130 million—the most ever—was provided for students, faculty, academic programs, research, and for campus and building improvements on all four campuses.

Media Contacts:

Jennifer Arnold

402-502-4919

jarnold@nufoundation.org