Bret Hart hopes to raise money to fight cancer, having had prostate cancer himself.Jeff McIntosh/The Globe and Mail
You suffered a stroke that left you in a wheelchair for three months, then a doctor says you have prostate cancer. What was going through your mind when you heard that?
None of them were very happy days but I really was lucky my doctors diagnosed my prostate cancer early [in 2016]. My brother Smith Hart passed away from it in early July this year. He just never got tested; classic story of me having the luck to get checked and him not having the luck in getting checked. They talk about how easy it is to detect this early. It's just blood work. My brother, in his last month alive, was saying over and over, "I just wish I'd been checked." It was frustrating for him to know he lives in a country where there's health care and he has every right to a doctor that everyone else does and he just screwed up. He really struggled with it and it just makes me appreciate the good fortune of [being seen by] the doctors who helped me.
When did you first get checked?
I was about 43 and I had no signs of anything. Then a few years ago, my [PSA] levels had gone high enough that they red-flagged me and let me know about a year ahead of time that I was heading in that direction and that they would monitor it a little longer. I had my prostate taken out last year. The cancer was all contained in the prostate. My brother Smith, his cancer was in his prostate and spread to his hips and down his femur. It was too far gone … About a year or two ago there was a professor at the University of Calgary who said the blood test was a waste of time, didn't do anything. And he's so wrong. It absolutely, positively saved my life and it cost my brother his, him not getting checked. There are some serious lessons to be learned and that professor was dead wrong.
Your medical woes seemed to begin with a significant concussion you received in the ring in 1999. Were there other head traumas?
I really only had one. I never had any previous concussion injury. In wrestling we pretend to hit each other in the head a lot. Generally speaking, you meet an old wrestler, they're not concussed. They've got bad hips, bad knees. I meet old wrestlers in their 80s and 90s, they're still sharp as a tack. They remember everything. Unfortunately, I got one bad kick from one bad wrestler and it cost me millions of dollars, probably led to my stroke and probably led to all kinds of bad luck for me … But I take the cards I've been dealt. I've always had God in my corner. I count my blessings I'm here today.
What does Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope mean to you?
He's the purest hero I can think of. Years ago when he was running, I was wrestling for my father in those days with Stampede Wrestling. We drove up and down the prairie highways all the time and I remember watching him on the news and thinking I'm going to wait for this kid when he comes through. Somewhere we're going to drive past him on the road, and he'll be walking and limping along and we'll wave to him. I remember taking note of it before he had to stop. I fell in love with the passion he had and what he was trying to do. He was the first to raise money on that level for such a big cause. In Canada, there are war heroes; there are lots of heroes who have done remarkable things in history. But Terry Fox is on a pedestal by himself … I think he'd be really proud at how Canada has rallied behind him all these years.
So are you going to run on Sunday?
I'm going to try to do the 5K. I'm just going to walk. I can't run because of issues with my knees and ankles. I have a team called Team Sharpshooters [after Hart's signature wrestling hold] and let's hope we can raise as much money as we can. I look at it as a great day to do my duty for a great Canadian, Terry Fox. And absolutely, I'll remember my brother. I'm sure everyone in Canada has probably got someone who has fought cancer. It's a Canadian battle that is nearly won. Cancer is on the ropes. One last Sharpshooter left in me to put on cancer; that would be an ideal goal.
This interview has been edited and condensed.