I never imagined I would need another person’s heart to keep living—or face an amputation as part of my journey forward. I was a husband, a father, a coach, and a man accustomed to being strong for everyone else. Suddenly, I needed people to be strong for me. I had to receive the support I was used to giving and trust God through questions I could not answer.

I wrote The Power of Detours to take you beyond the words “heart transplant” and “amputation”—into the fear, the waiting, the prayers, and the moments when I had to surrender what I could no longer control. My family needed me, and I wanted more life with them. More time beside my wife. More opportunities to guide my children. More ordinary days that I now understood were extraordinary gifts. Learning to live again required more than physical recovery. It required honesty, help, and surrender.

That is why men’s health is so personal to me. As men, we often measure our strength by how much we provide, carry, and endure. But we must also make time to care for the man carrying it all. Schedule the appointment. Speak honestly about how you feel. Ask for support. Invest in your mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. You deserve care, and the people you love deserve the opportunity to keep sharing life with you.

I want men to understand that caring for themselves is part of caring for their families. Your presence matters beyond a paycheck, a title, or what you accomplish. We still have conversations to have, memories to make, and young people who need the wisdom only your journey can offer.

These pages hold the parts of my story you cannot see in a photograph. If life has taken you somewhere you never wanted to go, I invite you to walk through my detours with me—the Story, the Struggle, the Surrender, and the Significance.

You may come to read my story—and find the courage to keep living yours.