TV meteorologist raises prostate cancer awareness

If there is one day meteorologist Paul Williams wants to forecast sunshine, it is Sunday, Sept. 29.

Williams is hosting and organizing the inaugural Walk For Prostate Cancer 5K at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes. Williams is a prostate cancer survivor.

He talks about raising awareness for the disease with the same seriousness and urgency as a tornado warning.

“I had an aggressive form for prostate cancer that came out of nowhere,” Williams said. “The biggest symptom of prostate cancer is no symptoms. I was functioning fine and, yet, this cancer was about to eat me alive from the inside out.”

One in eight men will get prostate cancer. One in six African American men get the disease, according to Williams. He said Black men have more testosterone, which is why they are most susceptible.

Williams has created an online resource called theprostatecancerguy.com to help men through the trauma.

“Prostate cancer thrives on testosterone, so they give you medicine to depress your testosterone levels,” Williams said. “One of the most devastating things is when they strip you of testosterone, your medical markers go haywire.”

Williams said men are faced with side effects like weight gain and mental health swings.

“I have a list of resources where you can go to get medicine, financial help and information. I even have a course that I’ve taught personally to help men recover their testosterone levels,” he said.

Williams, who has been WRDE-TV’s chief meteorologist since 2019, underwent his cancer treatment at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. He had to make the drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge weekly for three months.

He said he could not have had done it if his boss, at the time, had not been so understanding.

“I worked weekends. I would get my treatments and come to work on Friday from Baltimore. It was also during COVID, so there were things I could do from home,” Williams said.

Williams is also survivor of multiple heart attacks and cardiac incidents. 

“One time, I died and they brought me back to life,” he said, speaking of the heart attack he had when he worked for AccuWeather in State College, Pa.

Williams has also been a spokesman for the American Heath Association and a champion for men’s heart health.

“You should have one medical passion per lifetime. I didn’t want two or three,” he said.

Williams gave up meat and dairy, became a vegan and switched to a strict plant-based diet.

At 57 years old, Williams spends a lot of time in the gym and competes in body building competitions.

He said he received a new cancer prognosis at the end of August, which shows his PSA level has dropped, a good sign that he is managing the disease.

“When you tell people you have cancer, they think you’re going to want something from them. I don’t want a thing. I’m just talking to them,” he said. “People are ill-informed about cancer. Some think it is contagious, which is why this race is so important.”

Williams said Beebe Healthcare and La Red Health will have free cancer screenings at the 5K.

He also said the northeast chapter of Omega Psi Phi, Williams’ college fraternity, has stepped up and wants to make it an annual signature event.

For more information, go to walk4prostatecancer.org.