Former Fostoria resident and wife live a miracle every day

Five and a half years ago, former Fostoria resident Chuck Keels said, he was told he had stage-four prostate cancer and had three months to live. Fast-forward to 2021, and the 55-year-old Phoenix resident is preparing to return to his hometown to start a tour in which he'll tell a story that he wasn't expected to be around to tell.The story, he said, began with a divine intervention and has added chapters since then."Three years ago, I got to come and tell a class-reunion group my story and then another group, the next night, I got to tell them," he said. "Then, a year and a half ago, I got to come back to Fostoria because I'd launched a book about my journey that's being sold on Amazon called, 'Hi ... I'm Chuck.' That was a reason to come back to my family and my friends to tell them how this had progressed. This year I'm coming back with a wife and a cancer foundation. It just keeps getting bigger and better."The coronavirus pandemic cut short last year's speaking tour, but this year's will begin Friday, Feb. 19 at the UrbanWoody Brewery at 106 E. Tiffin St. The following day, Chuck and wife Hannah, a cancer patient who he married on New Year's Day 2020, will be at the Findlay Inn and Conference Center, 200 E. Main Cross, at 10:30 a.m. Masks must be worn and social distancing observed.The Keelses have started the "Living Hope Cancer Foundation" to support cancer patients and "to help as many people as we can in this journey," said Chuck Keels, who serves as a coach for patients through his foundation.Keels said that after being told of the extensive amount of cancer in his bones, his life took an enormous turn for the better."After I suffered a spinal collapse and ended up in emergency surgery, in the recovery room at a hospital here in Phoenix, the whole room turned cold for no reason," he said. "I looked around, and as I looked to my left, Jesus was standing right next to me. And I know this sounds a little far-fetched for a lot of people out there, but I actually saw a brown robe and a white scarf, with a beard on his face, and he reached out and touched my shoulder. And I started healing so fast from the cancer that my doctors still cannot believe my story. One of my doctors said, 'Your journey is not of medicine. It's miraculous.'"Keels said he was in full health after completing the chemo."A big part of the story is, after I survived the cancer, what was God's plan for me through this journey?" he said. "I knew that he definitely wanted me to work with cancer people and share my experiences. It was like a complete, unbelievable experience because they weren't getting what I was telling them in the medical industry. For someone to talk to (people) at this level, who'd been through cancer, I knew I was in the right place."Probably the biggest thing that really fired me up and kept me going was, when I talked to somebody, in that 30 minutes to an hour conversation about what happened to me and what I help put in place as far as navigation and support for them, all of a sudden, there was a little different sound in their voice. I would tell them about juicing and how nutrition was very important because their immune system can do what it's supposed to do."All of a sudden, they were like, 'OK, how do you juice?' They'd start getting excited in their voice. What I saw was being cultivated was something called hope. I know the word's thrown around all over out there, but where do you find true, genuine hope? That's what I was seeing happen and that's what really told me I was doing the right thing. In the journey of coaching and working with cancer people, I was introduced to my wife. She has Stage 4 breast cancer right now and she's had a situation over the last eight months where the cancer spread and she's in chemo right now. So, we're not just working with cancer patients all over the country, but we're dealing with it at home, also."Hannah Keels was diagnosed four years ago with stage four metastatic, triple-negative breast cancer, but much of it has diminished after several months of chemotherapy, Chuck Keels said. She, too, has written a book, titled "Faith Like Skin."Chuck Keels said he and Hannah have relied on their faith for strength."It's really difficult," Chuck said. "It's tough because there are a lot of emotions and things. It's exhausting to go from the cancer guy who could have died from cancer to caregiver, actually at her beck and call. I don't get more than a mile from our house if I go to the gym or to the park with the dog. I'm within a few minutes of being back home if she calls and says she needs me. All of that is absolutely exhausting."I have to tell you the truth: I pray a lot. I give it to God. I can handle the things that I can change. The things I can't, I give to Him and it takes the stress and worry off my back. It is definitely a huge test of my faith and test of Hannah's faith. What we're doing now, we're hoping that at these speaking events, we not only tell the story, but people see that, also."For more information, visit livinghopecancerfoundation.com