A One Man Shoot Inspiration
Hi, I am Jen Hebert! If you have attended the One Man Shoot before, you may have seen me somewhere in the mix — and if this is your first time, you will probably spot me running around at some point before the night is over!
My journey with the One Man Shoot began several years ago, but I truly became part of the family last year when I joined the committee. Like most good things in my life, I have other people to thank for it. Randy and Jolene Hays — who are absolutely integral to everything this organization does — introduced me to the One Man Shoot, and Janey Nasca asked me to roll up my sleeves and help. When people you admire and respect invite you into something they believe in that deeply, you say yes. So I said yes.
But my connection to this cause goes back much further than that. It goes back to 2005.
That was the year I started working for Dr. and Janey Nasca. I was hired for administration work, and I had absolutely no idea at the time that this job would become one of the most formative experiences of my life. Working for Dr. Nasca taught me lessons I still carry with me every single day — and it gave me a lifelong friend in Janey.
I learned a lot in that office. I learned that when things go sideways, it isn't what happens that defines you — it is everything about how you handle yourself when the plan falls apart. I learned that everything comes out in the wash, big things and small things alike, and that there isn't much life can throw at you that a little stain remover, elbow grease, and a few trips through the spin cycle can't fix.
But the biggest lesson — the hardest one — was prostate cancer.
I knew prostate cancer existed before then, but that was about the extent of it. When Dr. Nasca was diagnosed, it was the first time someone I personally knew had cancer. I learned and grew more than I can fully express through his journey with the disease and its treatments.
Dr. Nasca was not a man of many words, but he was a man who seemed to know something about everything — there was not a single topic that came up at the lunch table that he couldn't contribute something to. More importantly, he had built his entire career around helping other people and making them feel good about themselves. It was never about him. So when his diagnosis came, it was business as usual. He was not the Hollywood version of a cancer patient — which made it easy to forget, some days, that he was fighting at all.
People would say, "oh prostate cancer — that's the good kind to get," as if there is a good kind. "Most people outlive it," they'd say. "You end up passing from old age or something else before the cancer gets you." That was reassuring in the beginning. As you may know, that was not how his story ended.
One of the primary markers for prostate cancer is the PSA level. I did not know what a PSA level was before that season of my life. I did not know that a normal range is 1 to 4. But I became a very quick study, because I was the one retrieving Dr. Nasca's bloodwork results each week from the fax machine — yes, those still existed — and bringing them to him in his office. It wasn't long before I could see the numbers moving in the wrong direction, and the man who had always seemed invincible was becoming more vulnerable and more fragile with every passing week.
Like most men, it wasn't something he wanted to talk about. But with every bit of strength and energy he had left, he showed up for his patients. Until the day he made the decision to stop practicing, it was always about them. Through treatments that had every fiber of his body aching, not one of his patients would have known a thing was wrong. Watching that kind of perseverance, determination, and passion was one of the most inspiring things I have ever witnessed. I still think back on it on my hardest days to remind myself that I too can do hard things — and that things could always be worse.
So why the One Man Shoot? Why prostate cancer research?
Because of Dr. Nasca. Because of Janey. Because of Randy and Jolene Hays and every person in this organization who gives their time, energy, and heart to this cause. Because of Dr. Oliver Sortor — one of the leading prostate cancer research doctors in the country — whose work is directly supported by events like this one and the Blue Ribbon Soiree. The advances being made in detection, treatment, and prevention because of people like Dr. Sortor are real, and they are saving lives.
And because of my dad, my brother, my nephews, my uncles, my cousins, my grandfathers, my friends — every boy and every man in my life who could one day be faced with this reality. For the men who don't want to make it about them, who would rather raise their voice for someone else's cause. And for the wives, daughters, mothers, sisters, and friends who have had to stand beside the men they love and watch them fight.
A cure is always the end goal. Until then, I will keep showing up — running around, joining committees, saying yes when people I admire ask me to help — because this fight is absolutely worth it.
Thank you for being here tonight. Every dollar raised makes a difference.
— Jen Hebert, One Man Shoot Committee Member