In May of 2008, the Governor had a scheduled visit to Erie to meet with local officials, and to appear as a guest at a fundraiser for Hornaman. This was a golden opportunity to have the Governor and John Kanzius meet, but Hornaman could not get that message across to the Governor’s schedulers, who insisted that there was no time on the Governors’ agenda --every minute was accounted for.
Finally, Hornaman told them: "Look, this is too important-Governor Rendell must meet with John Kanzius. I don’t care if he’s late for my fundraiser, or even misses it completely… this is the most incredible thing he will ever see, and could be the biggest cancer breakthrough in half a century. It is NOT ACCEPTABLE that the Governor would miss this meeting."
At that point, the schedulers relented and set up the appointment.
Hornaman was at the Kanzius lab to introduce everyone when the Governor arrived, then excused himself to go to the fundraiser. When the Governor arrived at the event 1-½ hours later, he expressed his amazement at what he had learned about the research, then told the crowd of about 130 attendees: "Hornaman belongs in this job. He has an honest and unselfish heart. He was willing to give up his time, to make sure that I witnessed this incredible research. We need men like him in Harrisburg."
Following that day, as we all know, budget problems began to show themselves at the state level, and no financial assistance came from the Governor’s office. But Hornaman was persistent, writing letters and calling the Governor’s people to expedite the process. John then approached the Governor at a press conference in Edinboro, and the Governor told him: "I will support a $500,000 grant to move this research forward." Hornaman set up the meeting with DCED officials, and the grant came through more than a year after the initial meeting.
All because Hornaman wouldn’t accept "No".
That money will be used to produce the first Human-sized Radio -Wave Scanner beds for testing by the Food and Drug Administration. After that, Human Trials, with Erie designated as one of six locations in the U.S. for those trials. Once approved, the economic impact on Millcreek and Erie County will be phenomenal.
"I wanted desperately to help this research for several reasons." Hornaman said.
"First, and foremost --curing cancer through a painless, non-invasive treatment.
"Second, the economic tsunami that will hit when the world begins to order their scanner beds from Industrial Sales and Manufacturing in Millcreek Township.
"I want this to succeed because of John Kanzius--his dream, his vision, his dedication."
"This is without a doubt, the biggest cause I have ever been a part of."
To learn more about this research, go to www.KanziusCancerResearch.org .