In the final months of his life, Marc Becker engaged with friends through his morning Push-up Club, showcasing his fierce spirit even while battling pancreatic cancer. He unknowingly carried the BRCA gene mutation, which significantly raises the risk of certain cancers in men, a fact that caught his family off guard. After Marc's death in August 2023, his son Hayden has embarked on a mission to educate the Ashkenazi Jewish community about this genetic risk, particularly the dangers of prostate and pancreatic cancers associated with the BRCA mutation, which is disproportionately found in their population.
To honor his father, who died in August 2023, the Riverdale Country School junior has set out on a mission: to warn fellow Ashkenazi Jews about the silent killer that took his dad far too early.
What the Becker family didn't know was that the gene mutation can be lethal in males, too: Carriers of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations are at far greater risk of prostate and pancreatic cancer than men without the gene.
Though carried by only 0.2% of the world's population, the BRCA mutation is five times more common in Ashkenazi Jews.
In the final months before he died of pancreatic cancer at age 51, Marc Becker awoke every day at 6 a.m. to hold court with his Push-up Club.
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