Tony Hawk is known for being one of the greatest skateboarders of all time. He’s a pioneer and originator of modern vertical skateboarding, and today, he owns his own skateboard company, Birdhouse.
While people know the professional side of Hawk, perhaps they’re less familiar with his personal battles. His father, Frank Hawk, battled lung cancer, and that experience has made the skateboarder very conscious of the heartbreaking impact cancer can have on a family.
Every November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and as the year winds down, Tony Hawk is bringing awareness and visibility to lung cancer. Plus, he wants people to be aware of the tool they have to protect themselves from not just lung cancer but other forms of the disease, too.
Tony Hawk Talks About His Father’s Cancer Journey
Hawk has joined up with with Cancerguard by Exact Sciences, a “blood test that helps detect cancer, including aggressive and hard-to-find types, before symptoms appear,” according to the company.
He says that he’s inspired to do this because he father passed away in 1995 and only got to meet one of his children.
“I have four biological children, and I’m now a grandparent, and I want to meet my other grandkids, and I want to see them grow up,” Hawk told Heavy Sports. “So, to have this sort of test available with early screening is super important to me. I want to stay as healthy as long as possible.”
He added, “I hope that because I walk the walk and I’m getting the test will show people that they should do it. I’m an optimal candidate for the age range, and I didn’t know this science existed, so the fact that they contacted me and told me about it, and here we are now talking about it, and I’m taking this test, it feels like that’s a step in the right direction. I hope with my reach and audience, I can increase awareness.”
Tony Hawk Believes in Being Proactive About Health
“I’m definitely much older for a pro skateboarder, and the reason I’m able to do this at a high level is because I watch my health and am proactive with trying to take are of myself, and Cancerguard exactly alights with that mission.”
On their official website, Cancerguard notes the test “is a single blood-based multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test. It detects signals in the blood that may be found in many types of cancer, when cancer may be more treatable—especially for some types of cancer that have no other routine screening method. 1,2 The test is intended to be used in addition to, and not replace, routine screening options.”
According to Cancerguard, “nearly 70% of cancer deaths occur in cancers without screening options.” One of the reasons Hawk wanted to team with the company is because its goal is to detect cancer very early. “When cancer isn’t found at an early stage, it will continue to grow and may spread to other parts of the body, making it harder to treat,” they note on their website. “Finding cancer early, before it spreads, may help increase the chances of treating and potentially surviving cancer.”
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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