Tony Williamson was 57 when a lifetime of working construction caught up with him.
He had battled back pain for years. But things took a turn one day, when Williamson stood up from praying and fell. The accident required thigh bone surgery, and the operation revealed a huge, unexpected discovery: Williamson had stage 4 prostate cancer, and it had spread to his bones.
“They gave me six months to live,” he remembered. “I said, ‘Ain’t no way! I’ve got too much to do.’”
That was four years ago. Williamson, a father of three, had just finished remodeling a home and had big plans for the family construction business. But his back pain had become excruciating. It sapped him of the strength to get through the day, let alone fix up another house.
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Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, with Black men at a higher risk of developing and dying from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.