Actor Patrick Swayze made his first public appearance since being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year on the Stand Up 2 Cancer telethon Friday night.

The Ghost star received a standing ovation the moment he stepped foot on Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre stage.

He gave a speech in which he said, “I keep dreaming of a future, a future with a long and healthy life, a life not lived in the shadow of cancer, but in the light. I dream that everyone diagnosed will be fortunate enough to have hope, that every human being lost to cancer isn’t gone, but is standing here with us tonight. I see a future where all scientists come together with a unified agenda, and share their research and their brilliance. We can do anything, but the longer we do nothing, more people will die. Together, we can the make a world where cancer no longer means living with fear, without hope or worse. Tonight I stand here, another individual living with cancer, who asks that we not wait any longer and I ask only one thing of you: please stand up with me.”

Swayze, along with fellow thespians Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst, and Salma Hayek and musician Melissa Etheridge (who is a cancer survivor herself), took part in the telethon, answering phones and taking donations throughout the night.

Actors Sidney Poitier, Jodie Foster and Christina Ricci opened the hour-long cancer awareness special in a pre-recorded segment, ending the segment with a statement saying one American had died from the disease during its 30-second message.

By Tessa Petrocco