Ron Littlefield

A year after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer, Chattanooga Police Chief Freeman Cooper finally has regained his stamina.

“I’m back at 100 percent now,” he said this week. “It’s taken me about a year to get my strength back. And endurance.”

While battling the disease weakened him, many men think talking about prostate cancer and seeking medical advice makes them weak, Chief Cooper said.

But because one out of every six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lives, education and early detection are important to tackling the disease before it spreads, medical officials say. That is especially true for black men, who are more likely than other men to be diagnosed with the disease and twice as likely to die of it than white men, according to the American Cancer Society.

To promote awareness, Chief Cooper is serving as co-chairman of Saturday’s inaugural Chattanooga Classic Prostate Cancer Walk at Laurel Point on Raccoon Mountain. Mayor Ron Littlefield, who had surgery for the cancer last Thanksgiving, is the other chairman.

“It’s not something that’s talked about,” Chief Cooper said, and participating in the event is important because “as individuals, being in the position that (myself and the mayor) are, we are willing to admit we’re subject to the same type of possibilities as everyone else as far as cancer goes.”

The event, presented by Erlanger hospital, will donate proceeds to the American Cancer Society to educate, screen and serve prostate cancer patients in Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia.

Mr. Littlefield and his wife both will participate in the walk, which offers a two-mile and four-mile version.

“We men are men, and we don’t like to talk about cancer,” said the mayor, who said he’s also regained his strength. “It’s obviously the sort of thing you wouldn’t have talked about before in polite company. It’s kind of a sensitive area.”

Unlike Chief Cooper, who had annual checkups with a doctor, Mr. Littlefield avoided visits for 20 years. Only at the urging of his wife did he get a physical last year, at which point elevated levels of the prostate specific antigen were discovered, usually a sign of prostate cancer.

Getting annual tests saves lives, the mayor said. When several women heard about his ordeal, they made their husbands get tested, he said.

“It can be a killer,” Mr. Littlefield said. “I would be dead in a few years if it weren’t for (the test). It’s crazy, I now reluctantly admit, to go for 20 years without having a physical examination. I’m just encouraging people not to be as foolish as I was.”