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At a young age, Kansas City Chiefs safety Deon Bush lost his father when doctors detected cancer during what Bush said was a small procedure.
“At that exam, he got a biopsy, and that's when he figured out he had Stage 4 Liver Cancer," Bush said. "I had to grow up and had to replace him.”
Bush said after his father's death, he started researching about ways to help others through early detection.
“You not pushing things to the side, because the earlier you are able to catch some of these things, the better success rate and different options that you will have," Bush said.
Bush now serves as an ambassador for the NFL’s Crucial Catch Program, a partnership with the American Cancer Society, to help make sure Chiefs Kingdom gets screened.
“I feel like I will be remiss if I can’t help somebody else," he said. "Help a young Deon somewhere else get through basically what my family had to get through."
Bush is doing so by supporting local health centers like Vibrant Health, who received a grant from Crucial Catch for their work in preventative care measures serving thousands of people a year.
“Every opportunity someone is in our clinic, we would recommend they get screened for cancer,” said Kim Gasper, vice president of Advancement for Vibrant Health. “Because the patient that vibrant serves are largely uninsured or on Kansas medicare — we try to make it as accessible as possible.”
Representatives with the American Cancer Society and Vibrant Health say partnering with the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs is critical.
“The importance of the relationship between the American Cancer Society and the NFL is to share these stories that many families have endured,” said Ashley Berndt, executive director for the Kansas City American Cancer Society. “Seeing that message of how it's so crucially important for early detection prevention is a way for us to kind of generate those needs.”
Bush hopes more families can protect their loved ones from the harsh realities of cancer.
“We love you Chiefs Kingdom — get screened,” Berndt said.
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