RUFUS – Former Vice President Richard Banks’ family has announced that he was diagnosed with severe Pancreatic cancer but did not say at which stage the cancer was. Further, his office declined to comment on his current health and the treatments he is thinking about undertaking to defeat the cancer.

“Mr. Banks has made it starkly clear that he will release details related to his cancer diagnosis when he is ready to,” said a spokesperson for Banks’ office. “He did give us permission to talk about what cancer he was diagnosed with and we have already shared that with you here. Obviously, the family is disappointed, but they are by his side and fighting the cancer by his side.”

The former Vice President hasn’t been seen in public in the better part of the last year and a half. When he has been spotted in public, he had looked frail and extremely skinny. Many commented on his appearance citing concerns for “his health.” The announcement of his cancer diagnosis confirmed what everyone was seeing. He had an extreme form of pancreatic cancer.

“When I last saw him just after he resigned, he looked and sounded tired,” said former President John McCallum. “He was just out of it and he had lost a lot of weight. It is a horrible disease, and I pray for his recovery and the strength of his family. He is a strong man, and I know he will get through this cancer diagnosis.”

Banks, 53, has a long family history of cancer, and this diagnosis was likely years and years late, because his father Martin Banks, died on January 26, 1978, at just 48 years old, from throat cancer. His mother, nearly died of breast cancer but received treatment and recovered.

“My thoughts and prayers are with former Vice President Banks,” said New Shire Governor David Rivera. “Cancer has personally affected my family and it is one of the worst experiences of my life. I lost both my mom and dad to Pancreatic cancer, and that was just shy of their 67 and 70th birthdays respectively. I pray for his family as they all work to get through this diagnosis together.”

No official word from his team when he could release further details about his cancer and what treatments he will opt for, if any, at this time. It is obviously likely that he will get cancer treatment, and his family has slightly hinted at the possibility.

Banks, lost his wife, Trisha Banks last May to Liver cancer, and his children say they fear losing him to cancer also, so there is a stronger chance that he will opt for more aggressive forms of treatment.