In 2015, Ron Adkins was living a quiet retired life with his wife of 48 years in Plano. At the age of 73, he had a confident outlook on his longevity and relatively few health problems. That might have been due to a couple of factors on his side.
First, he had been an active hunter for many years and had even enjoyed success as a published hunting content author for several prominent magazines. Second, his own mother had lived to 102 and his father to 94. His confidence, invigorated by his Christian faith, helped him courageously face double bypass heart surgery that year.
It was during a routine annual heart procedure follow up that the nurse reported to him his PSA count was abnormally high. “What does that mean?” was his reaction. Not long after more tests confirmed the bad news. Ron was positive for Prostate Cancer.
Consistent with his genetic gifts and fit nature Ron whipped the heart problems and was well on his way to recovery until a few months ago in October 2016.
Since Ron knew has own father had died with active prostate cancer at 94 (but not from prostate cancer) he didn’t dilly-dally around. Ron knew early detection and taking action was key in prostate cancer survival rates.
Ron began radiation treatment very soon after detection. The process and treatments have been going well without complications. Ron is thankful for that but reflects on the prostate biopsy procedure without much adoration. Although the doctor told him it “wouldn’t hurt a bit”, Ron says it is “by far the worst part”.
Ron was friends with local insurance agent Jay Goff who has been a frequent attendee of recent Mankind™ events and was well acquainted with our mission and our volunteer board member philosophy. Jay was fond of listening to Ron’s stories when they visited, whether it be from Ron’s glory days as GM of the Dallas Sidekicks or his hunting adventures. When Jay found out Ron had been struggling with the stress of property taxes, prostate cancer treatment and a fixed income, he referred him to Mankind™ on January 20th.
On February 6, Mankind™ issued $3,000 of direct financial aid to Ron and his family and plans to raise more donations through their annual golf fundraiser April 6.