MONCTON – Charlie Taylor has refereed on basketball courts in Moncton for more than 20 years. Last year, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and has decided to go public with his very private story.
Taylor and his wife Kelly vividly remember the day they both thought his days of refereeing basketball were over. In March 2013, he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
“Well, this big guy was not as tough as he thought he was going to be,” said Taylor.
His wife, Kelly, says she was devastated.
“My daughter was expecting our first grandchild and…this is not the right time. We can’t have this happen right now.”
Taylor’s father died of prostate cancer in 2000, and showed no symptoms.
“It was a shock because he was healthy. I mean dad wasn’t sick a day in his life, and then all of a sudden he was diagnosed with prostate cancer,” he said.
Kelly says she feared the worst.
“It took me right back to his dad when he was diagnosed, and I remember how fast that went,” she said.
Taylor never imagined he would suffer the same fate at age 50.
“I always thought it was an old man’s disease,” he said.
According to Wayne Harrigan of Prostate Cancer Canada, new research shows that men as young as 40 should get their PSA levels tested.
“It gives an indication whether there is a reason to investigate further for prostate cancer,” he said.
But Taylor says most men — him included — avoid even broaching the topic with their doctors.
“You are basically dropping your pants in front of a lot of people you don’t know because you have to go through tests and check-ups,” he said. “That’s tough for a guy to do.”
Prostate Cancer Canada says even though 87 per cent of men have a fear of prostate cancer, they don’t educate themselves about the disease.
One in seven men in Canada will develop prostate cancer. In New Brunswick and Nova Scotia last year, more than 1,400 men were diagnosed with the disease.
It’s also highly hereditary, but has a 90 per cent cure rate if caught early.
Taylor won his battle with the disease and he’s back refereeing again. He says he swallowed his pride and took the test.
“It’s not just about me,” he said. “It affects my family, it affects my wife, it affects my kids.”
Kelly is thankful her husband’s illness was caught early.
“If you’ve got family that loves you…it only takes a minute to get these tests done and it could save your life,” she said.
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