Early medical attention saved Dwayne Parker’s life. As organizer for Kappa Alpha Psi’s annual All Men’s Health Fair — 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 8, at Dow Event Center — he aims to help others possibly do the same.
Parker received a transplant last winter after more than seven years of medication that followed a heart failure diagnosis and installation of a pump in 2020, all the time waiting and hoping for a donor.
“My own life has been saved by the type of screening that is offered at our free event,” says the retired outreach administrator for Flint’s Hurley Medical Center and former Buena Vista supervisor.
A Health Fair presenter, Dr. Christopher Allen from Covenant Health Care, says: “Most men don’t go see a physician until something is very wrong. We are inviting men to come in and to get checked out, before it’s too late. The main barrier is often those three words: ‘I feel fine.’ We all are tempted to believe that if we don’t know, it won’t hurt us.”
Among many examples of health issues that may gradually grow more severe for an otherwise healthy man are high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. Those types of concerns will be evaluated as part of a mini-health assessment that offers an array of tests and screenings. But for fellows who remain reluctant, health and wellness information will be offered with follow-up care available.
For guys who still are skeptical, here are some eye-openers:
- Men in the United States, on average, live seven fewer years than women.
- Out of the top 10 causes of death, men die at a higher rate for nine of them.
- Half of all men will face some sort of cancer.
Women and children also are welcome on June 8, and they are encouraged to bring reluctant men along.
