Community Corner
Wayne Magician Michael Turco Battling Leukemia
A blood drive will be held at the library Thursday for Turco. He has been receiving chemotherapy treatments for nearly a year.
WAYNE, NJ — Magician Michael Turco is trying to make something disappear from his life forever: Leukemia.
The township native and Wayne Valley alumnus was "suddenly" diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia nearly a year ago and has gone through "intense" rounds of chemotherapy since, he said. Since then he has tried to educate others about the disease and encourage others to continue to fight against it.
"So far I am doing well. I won't lie, there are some good days and some really crappy days during this process," Turco said in a blog post. "But I have the most amazing family and friends to get me through this."
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But beyond his own fight, Turco wants to encourage other leukemia patients to continue theirs. He spoke at a conference about being a cancer patient and that got him motivated to encourage others.
"After that I knew I needed to get out there and start bringing awareness to this terrible disease, and also do whatever I can to raise money," Turco said in a Facebook post.
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He raised more than $14,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's by participating in the organization's Light the Night walk.
Turco said he has "a few years" of treatment remaining.
A blood drive for Turco will be held at the Wayne Library, 461 Valley Road, Thursday from 2:30 to 7 p.m. All donors will receive free health screenings. Walk-ins are welcome.
Turco has appeared on reality performance shows "America's Got Talent" and "Masters of Illusion." He had a nine-month run at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.
A lover of magic since he was a kid, Turco has been described as a "natural-born talent" and a "true success story." As a child, Turco spent summers in Atlantic City watching magicians perform on stage in casinos. He started his career by performing card tricks before making the jump up to stage shows at George Washington Middle School.
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Image courtesy of Michael Turco
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