US civil rights icon John Lewis diagnosed with cancer

WASHINGTON: Civil rights icon and US House Representative John Lewis (pic) announced he had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.

The diagnosis followed a “routine medical visit”, Lewis, a 79-year-old Democrat who has repeatedly sparred with President Donald Trump, said in a statement, adding that he would seek treatment while continuing to represent his Georgia district.

“I have been in some kind of fight – for freedom, equality, basic human rights – for nearly my entire life. I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now,” he said.

Known for his decades of work in the civil rights movement, Lewis marched with slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr at the August 1963 rally in Washington at which King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.

“I have decided to do what I know to do and do what I have always done: I am going to fight it and keep fighting for the Beloved Community,” Lewis said.

“But with God’s grace I will be back on the front lines soon.”

The son of sharecroppers, Lewis also took part in the Freedom Rides – challenges to segregated facilities at bus terminals in the South.

On March 7, 1965, he led a march in Selma, Alabama, that ended in an attack by state troopers on the protesters that later became known as “Bloody Sunday”.

He joined Congress in 1987, representing a district that includes parts of Georgia’s state capital and largest city, Atlanta.