Former conservative Foreign Minister and ex Mayor of Athens Dora Bakoyannis revealed on Monday that she has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the white blood cells, but says she intends to go on working.
“It’s never easy to hear that you have cancer,” the 67-year-old New Democracy politician said in a long post on social media on Monday. She added that she is undergoing treatment and remains optimistic about a satisfactory outcome.
— Ντόρα Μπακογιάννη (@Dora_Bakoyannis) October 18, 2021
“I have never in my life backed down from a fight. I will continue to work and fight for the country which I love so much, while undergoing treatment,” she said.
Dora Bakoyannis is the mother of current Athens Mayor, Costas Bakoyannis, and the older sister of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The news come a week after the leader of KINAL/PASOK, Fofi Gennimata, announced that she is withdrawing from the new leadership election due to health reasons. She has been hospitalized since Oct 12, with the hospital to have announced recurrence of underlying cancer.
Greeks have a high incidence of cancer.
Given their innate ability to innovate, if I might generalize. I hope some are dedicating themselves to the fields of research.