WWE and WCW legend Bret “The Hitman” Hart has revealed that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, saying that he is set to undergo surgery “with the hope of defeating this nemesis once and for all.”
In a lengthy Facebook post, Bret revealed that he was battling the disease, though did not state when he had been diagnosed by doctors.
You can read the entire post below:
It is with great remorse that I feel compelled to speak truthfully to my friends, family and my millions of fans around the world. In the past few years, I’ve spent more than enough time paying the price for all those years trying to be the best there ever was as a professional wrestler. I executed excellently and my proudest claim was that I never seriously hurt or injured another wrestler in my 23 year career. I’ve paid a price for all that “fake” wrestling. Aside from a devastating career-ending concussion and numerous surgeries when I was younger, in recent years I’ve had two knee replacements, two hernia operations, surgery on my right elbow, and, just a few months ago, I underwent a four-corner fusion of my right wrist that even now makes it most difficult to write or type.
Mark Helprin wrote: “We are all perfect clocks that Divinity has set to ticking when, even before birth, the heart explodes into a lifelong dance.” I’ve had a great lifelong dance and I’m a survivor of many hard battles. I now face my toughest battle. With hesitation and fear, I openly declare myself in my fight against prostate cancer. In the next few days, I will undergo surgery with the hope of defeating this nemesis once and for all.
My fans have always looked upon me as a hero and I’ve always done my best to live up to that in and out of the ring. I beat the odds when I suffered my stroke in 2002, but it is now yet again, that I draw upon the many adults and young children I’ve met throughout my life who courageously fought and usually lost in their battles against this deadly disease. One year ago, I watched a brave young man named Whesley fight brain cancer to the end. If I can find even an ounce of his courage to stand unafraid and face the tough road ahead of me, I will march toward this destiny with his spirit chanting in my ear.
I make a solemn vow to all of those that once believed in me, the dead and the living, that I will wage my fearsome fight against cancer with one shield and one sword carrying my determination and my fury for life, emboldened by all the love that’s kept me going this long already. Love is my weapon and I’ve got much of it around me all the time, for which I’m truly blessed and eternally grateful. My children, grandchildren, and my loving wife Steph have been and will constantly be at my side. I refuse to lose, I will never give in or give up, and I will win this battle or die trying.
Most important of all, I hope I can take the fight to prostate cancer. To be a leader in awareness and to set the example for men everywhere who find themselves in my very same shoes, that prostate cancer can be beaten.
Bret became world famous during his tenure in the WWE, engaging in rivalries with the likes of Shawn Michaels, Diesel and his late brother Owen Hart. His feud with ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin is regarded as the catalyst for Austin’s ascension to the top of the WWF, and laid the foundation for the beginning of the Attitude Era, the most celebrated time period in the company’s history.
Hart was also the victim of the infamous “Montreal Screwjob,” in which WWE owner Vince McMahon ordered the referee to “ring the bell” in Hart’s final match in the WWE, wrongfully awarding the victory and the WWE world championship to Shawn Michaels, as a result of Hart signing a contract with the WWE’s now-defunct rival company WCW. However, in later years Hart would return to the WWE, and while he wasn’t fit to compete in the ring due to having sustained a number of injuries during the course of the career, he and Vince McMahon buried the hatchet on their real-life feud after many years.
We hope Bret makes a speedy recovery and wish him all the best. If anyone can make cancer tap out, The Hitman can.
