(WWJ) It's Men's Health Week — a time when in Michigan and across the country we focus on efforts to bring attention to men's wellness, and to what men can do to strive to live longer, healthier lives.
For a special "Blue Monday" edition of WWJ Newsradio 950's The Daily J podcast, host Zach Clark interviewed a doctor who said men usually wait until something happens to a friend or family member before taking action regarding their own health.
For a number of Detroit radio listeners, that event was the passing of 97.1 The Ticket host Jamie Samuelson in 2020 after a battle with colorectal cancer.
Samuelson's wife, WDIV-TV journalist Christy McDonald, told Clark that Jamie's way of connecting with people over the airwaves made many feel as if they knew him; as if he was their friend.
"We talked, he and I, a lot about when he would come out and tell people the battle that he was facing. And he kept saying, you know, when we're at a good certain point when I feel that I can share more about what's happening I'll do it," McDonald explained. "When we finally got to the point where he was so sick near the end before he died and he said I need to come on and I need to tell people that this could happen to them; I need to tell people to be aware and to be screened."
When Samuelson shared his story with his listeners, McDonald said it was "the most beautiful and bravest moment," she'd seen her husband go through.
Jamie very much wanted people to learn from his experience, she said, and they certainly did.
"I was sitting on a flight once and a guy passed me a napkin from like ten rows behind me saying 'I want you to know I that got screened because of Jamie's message, and they found some polyps, and if they had not removed them they would've been cancer in a year.'" McDonald shared.
"To hear these singular stories from people saying, 'Gosh, the awareness changed my life' is powerful; it still bring me to my knees sometimes. But I know that Jamie's goodness and everything that he went through will help other families."
Hear Clark's complete conversation with McDonald, HERE.
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