Kevin Seamon still remembers his time living in Bridgeport. The 45-year-old grew up here, went to school here and eventually moved away to Lake Floyd in the western part of Harrison County in 1985 at the age of 14.

 

Before and after the move, he wasn’t different from most. He liked school, sports, to bike, to do pretty much what everyone was doing.

 

“Bridgeport was great growing up and I grew up in the Lawman Avenue North Street area. As a kid I remember going from North Street to the Dairy Mart every Saturday and would get a comic book and a candy bar,” said Seamon. “If I wasn’t doing that I’d walk to and from Skate World, which wasn’t a short walk. It’s definitely something most parents, in any community would let their kids do today.”

 

Seamon said all of his memories of Bridgeport are fond ones, including trips to Heck’s and Hills and going to the Terrace Cinemas. He still has more than just a handful of friends to this day as he’s just five short years from that magical age of 50 and loves to look back on those times with anyone that wants to talk about it.

 

“I never thought I would end up having an illness when I was back in Bridgeport or for any of my youth. I always left like I was indestructible,” said Seamon.

 

Maybe he had reason to feel that way even as an adult. In 1999, while diving into a swimming pool, Seamon broke his neck and was paralyzed from the chest down.

 

“They said I wouldn’t walk again,” said Seamon. “I told them I would.”

 

Seamon proved the doctors wrong. He proved himself right. And he continued, for some time, to carry on that youthful feeling of being indestructible because he beat the odds of paralysis that not many do. That would change in recent years, and it would change in a way Seamon never thought was coming.

 

“Actually, for years I would have a little blood in my stool or some pain here and I just thought it was hemorrhoids,” said Seamon. “I imagine that was everyone’s first reaction to those symptoms, especially because I was getting older and it was a common thing. I never got it checked because I certainly didn’t want to be poked or prodded.”

 

If only he would have done that. Of course, with hindsight being 20-20, Seamon wishes that would have been the case. When those first symptoms arrived he could have lessened the impact of what was to come. He could have saved himself a good part of the physical, mental and emotional battle he still is going through.

 

He knows what he should have done. He also knows he can’t dwell on it.

 

“A couple of years ago, the blood issues were more frequent and more painful and this past summer it got to the point where it was consuming my life. My quality of life was shot and I was honestly afraid and felt bad for my daughter,” said Seamon. “We’d go on vacation and I had to know where all the bathrooms were located.”

 

Finally, Seamon relented. He asked his father, who has worked for decades as a barber in Fairmont, to ask one of the doctors to “fix him up” and remove the hemorrhoids. When he saw the doctor, he was told that he had them, but they weren’t that bad so a colonoscopy was ordered.

 

“I was told they’d get with me a few days afterwards to go over the results, but when I woke up the doctor was standing over me so I knew something was wrong,” said Seamon.

 

“He told me that they found a tumor and they had already done a quick biopsy and it was cancer,” said Seamon, who said it was at a stage 3 level. “They thought it was in a good location and that radiation, chemotherapy and surgery would take care of it.”

 

In a way, it has done just as promised. But the battle has been longer than anticipated and it’s one that Seamon is hoping others can avoid. And he’s sharing his story during colorectal cancer awareness month just to make sure.

 

“I would absolutely now tell someone the first time there’s blood in your stool or have pain, go check it out. Whether you have insurance or not, just go. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what I’ve had to go through if you can avoid it or avoid most of it,” said Seamon.

 

Seamon’s medical journey and path to recovery isn’t complete, although he’s firmly on it. He finally recovered from six weeks of combined chemo and radiation. He said the treatment, particularly the radiation, is something he doesn’t believe anyone should have to go through.

 

“I got hit with it on both treatments. The chemo made me nauseous and when I could eat nothing tasted good; it all tasted like metal. Then the radiation, it was just so bad. The last two weeks of radiation and the week after I either felt like I was going to die or wanted to die,” said Seamon. “The pain pills they gave me only screwed with my head and never touched the pain. I just wanted relief.”

 

Seamon finished those treatments Jan. 20. Nearly two weeks after that, the pain was finally subsiding. He began to feel – and look – good again.

 

“I felt great, actually wonderful and the doctor told me I looked great. Then he warned me not to get used to it because I still had surgery and it the appearance would quickly go by the wayside,” said Seamon.

 

What was planned to be a three-and-a-half hour surgery to remove the tumor instead became a 12-hour marathon. The device used for the procedure didn’t fit where it was needed to go for unknown reasons – speculated that it was changes in his body from the treatment to prep him for the surgery.

 

“They actually had to call in for backup. They told me later they’ve never had to call in for backup,” said Seamon. “So instead of a few staples after surgery, I’ve got them on my front and back. I’m still swollen and lying in bed trying to recover. The bad news is that they don’t know just how long it’s going to take, but the good news is that they’re pretty sure I’m going to recover soon.”

 

Surgery was Feb. 28. The timeline they hope to have Seamon in recovery mode is mid-April. Sometime after that, the last round of the battle begins as he’ll begin what he hopes and believes is the final four months of chemo.

 

“They call it battling cancer and, trust me, in my case and many others it’s a battle.  What’s amazing is that you can feel like you’re absolutely alone and get inside your own head that you’re alone or you can realize you have friends and you have family,” said Seamon. “God bless Facebook and text messaging because when I was down I would see posts on Facebook and texts from my friends and you realize quickly you’re not alone. And it went beyond that.”

 

Seamon said he found it comforting to know people he didn’t know were praying for him. He saw it on social media and he heard it firsthand.

 

“More than once a nurse would come into my room, see my name and mention I was on their prayer list at church. These are total strangers and they’re praying for me. That was a reminder I wasn’t alone,” said Seamon.

 

And he had his 11-year-old daughter Olivia as a reminder that he wasn’t alone and he couldn’t stop fighting.

 

“My kid isn’t an emotional kid, but having her there was just a huge deal to me and my mother (Judy Seamon) was there too. When I felt like giving up, I realized as much as I needed them that they needed me to get those thoughts out of my head and be there for them,” said Seamon. “We’ve all leaned on each other.”

 

Today, he’s resting and recovering at his parent’s home. Tomorrow will come and he’ll head there with positive thoughts.

 

“There are three things that are positive in a big way that I can point to. The first thing is that my friends, when we’re together, I’ve never seen them love one another so much. The second thing is that there are some people praying for me … that say they’ve haven’t prayed for years. If my situation is bringing them closer to God by saying a prayer, then that’s a good thing,” said Season. “Finally, I’ve got some friends asking me questions about health situations and I even have one friend getting checked out. Maybe it’s nothing and if it’s something, maybe he won’t have to go through what I’ve gone through because of it.

 

“I’ll talk to anyone about this. I want people to be aware that sometimes it’s more than perhaps having hemorrhoids,” Seamon continued. “You can’t kick this problem down the road or it will be too late.”

 

For Kevin Seamon, that doesn’t appear to be the case. He’s healing on the mental, physical and emotional front and plans to be back to his old self again.

 

While that may not mean a trip to Skate World, it will mean a robust lifestyle minus cancer. And it will likely mean a better one because of battling cancer.

 

Click HERE if you would like to assist in helping with the costs associated with Seamon’s cancer battle.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Kevin Seamon with his daughter Olivia, while he's shown with his mother Judy in the second photo and is shown pre-cancer a few years earlier in the solo shot. In the bottom photo, he's having fun with Bridgeport's Claude Ryan. All photos courtesy of Kevin Seamon.