TAMPA, FLA. (WSVN) - The First Lady of Florida, Casey DeSantis, announced that the state will be increasing funds for its breast cancer battle.
As DeSantis herself battles breast cancer, she’s now helping other Floridians in their fight.
On Tuesday, while in Tampa, she announced extra funds will go toward research.
“The governor has funded this in high levels in his proposed budget,” she said. “We are super excited today to be announcing that the governor, in his proposed budget, is going to be increasing this by 60%. He wants to fund this at $100 million, that we wanna put forth for cancer research because we wanna find a cure for the damn thing.”
The $100 million will be split between several nationally recognized cancer centers in the state, including the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“Get out there and get those preventative screenings when you can, as early as you can,” DeSantis said.
The mother of three young children, the youngest just 18 months old, said cancer can strike even the young.
She credits a mammogram with saving her life.
“It’s a heartfelt moment, right,” said John Cleveland, Center Director at Moffit Cancer Center. “It matters to her personally, matters to all of us personally, because one out of two of us in any room is going to get cancer.”
The first lady also had a message to those battling cancer.
“Just never give up. Don’t quit. Just keep fighting,” she said.
Officials say the funding will help the cancer institutes bring the best and brightest researchers to Florida and invest in cutting-edge discoveries.
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