The founding bassist is seeking support for treatment and family costs, with Death Angel rallying behind their former bandmate.
Death Angel co-founder and former bassist Dennis Pepa has revealed he was diagnosed with stage 4 duodenal cancer in February, launching a fundraiser to help cover treatment and support his family.
In a personal statement published through the GoFundMe campaign, Pepa said the diagnosis came after he had already lost the job he held for almost 20 years.
The fundraiser, organised by Mike Pracale, has a US$150,000 target and has raised nearly US$28,000 from around 390 donations at the time of writing.
Pepa hopes to pursue dendritic-cell immunotherapy at the Immunocine Cancer Center in Mexico, provided the clinic confirms he can proceed. According to the fundraiser, the money would go towards treatment, travel, around six weeks of accommodation in Mexico and everyday expenses for his family while he is away.
The US National Cancer Institute describes dendritic-cell vaccines as a type of cancer treatment vaccine designed to stimulate an immune response against cancer cells. The NCI notes that only one dendritic-cell vaccine has been approved, for certain advanced prostate cancers.
Pepa said his family remains at the centre of his fight.
“There’s still so much I want to stick around for,” he wrote, naming his sons Maddox and Roman and his fiancée Gemalyn among the reasons he wants to keep fighting.
Death Angel have also rallied behind their former bassist, sharing the fundraiser and calling on the metal community to support him.
“Let’s show Dennis he’s not alone fighting this battle,” the band wrote, as reported by Blabbermouth.
Pepa co-founded Death Angel in San Francisco in 1982 alongside guitarists Rob Cavestany and Gus Pepa and drummer Andy Galeon. Before Mark Osegueda took over as frontman in 1984, Pepa also handled lead vocals during the band’s earliest years.
He played bass across Death Angel’s original album run, including The Ultra-Violence, Frolic Through The Park and Act III, before the band initially split in 1991. Pepa returned for Death Angel’s reunion in the early 2000s, appearing on The Art Of Dying and Killing Season before leaving in October 2008.
His departure came only months before Death Angel made their first Australian tour in March 2009 alongside Armored Saint, with contemporary Australian coverage billing the run as both bands’ first visit to the country.
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