September 2018 is officially Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in Muskingum County due to a Proclamation made by the Muskingum County Commissioners Thursday.

In 2009, Raymond Hoetger was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Nine years later, Hoetger and his wife Linda visited the Muskingum County Commissioners to receive a proclamation.

For the past five years, the Hoetger’s have been traveling from their home on the west side of Columbus to any local government that will have them throughout the state of Ohio. Their goal is to raise awareness about the severity of prostate cancer and encourage men to talk about the specific type of cancer.

“I didn’t want to sit back and do nothing, so I decided to start raising my voice for prostate cancer awareness,” Linda Hoetger said. “Then five years ago I had this idea that I am going to start contacting mayors and council members and whoever would listen about prostate cancer to try and get awareness out there.”

As of Thursday, over the duration of 2018, the couple has claimed 189 proclamations, resolutions and citations from mayors, senators and local officials helping the Hoetgers raise awareness for an illness that drastically impacted their lives.

“The best advice the doctor gave us was, ‘become students of prostate cancer,’” Linda Hoetger said.

When her husband was diagnosed in 2009, Linda used her creativity to bring a little life to cancer by creating Peaty the Prostate Crusader. The couple was at a support group one night when a walnut was passed around to give a tangible comparison to the size of a prostate.

“People know, when they see me they see Peaty,” Linda Hoetger said. “Or they see me and they’re like, ‘OK what can we do to keep raising awareness for prostate cancer?’”

The humanized walnut, complete with a hat, has traveled as far as England to be a mascot for friends of the Hoetger’s that are battling prostate cancer as well.

It’s not just the prostate crusader that travels hundreds of miles to raise awareness. The couple goes as far as Capitol Hill to encourage continued funding for prostate cancer research and speak with congress members about the aggressive disease.

Given Commissioner Jim Porter’s on-going, two-year fight with prostate cancer, Raymond Hoetger and Porter compared stories, laughed about doctor’s appointments and shared their appreciation for their families and God during their medical challenges.

After sharing his own story with the couple, Porter recounted an experience he had at the barber shop last week where three of the five men in the shop mentioned they were fighting cancer. Two, including Porter, are fighting prostate cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, one in nine men will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime.

The couple has plans to continue raising awareness for the one in nine men and encourage men to be proactive about their health by getting PSA tests.

“I want to help end prostate cancer, one man at a time, one family at a time,” Linda Hoetger said. “To say, ‘Hey look, you are someone who’s important and we need to keep raising awareness and we need you around.’”