In this live emcee speech at the 2014 All‑In to Fight Cancer poker benefit, the host recounts the inspiring story of Tanner, a skilled poker player who reached the final table and placed sixth while unknowingly battling an aggressive form of testicular cancer. After the tournament, Tanner was diagnosed and entered the Novant health system, where he was assigned a nurse navigator, Pam. Pam guided Tanner through surgery, treatment, and recovery, ultimately helping him return to the event healthy and ready to defend his placement. The speaker uses Tanner and Pam’s journey to illustrate resilience, the importance of community support, and to motivate the audience to continue raising funds for local cancer initiatives.
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He's a cool dude, and Tanner happens to be, I guess, a fairly legit poker player because he was at All In to Fight Cancer last year. Not only was he at All In to Fight Cancer last year, but Tanner made the final table. He came in 6th, so round of applause for Tanner. Another interesting thing about Tanner, He's a very strong and faithful kid. He and his wife are wonderful people. They have a beautiful baby. And one of the things that Tanner did, which I encourage you all to do while you're here today, is he took some time to talk to our benefiting organizations. And when Tanner took the time to talk to our benefiting organizations, he met Pam.
Pam!
Pam's a nurse navigator. Round of applause for Pam.
So we've got Tanner. He's a pretty smart Smart kid.
He's doing his due diligence. He's talking to the nurse navigators. He meets Pam. And then he goes on— again, it's not easy to win a poker tournament, guys. It's incredibly hard even to make the final table. He goes on to make the final table and come in 6th place, which is phenomenal. Is that our table? What Tanner didn't know, and what no one in the room knew, is that he sat at the final table of All In to Fight Cancer last year With an aggressive form of testicular cancer. Tanner was at the final table undiagnosed last year of All In to Fight Cancer. Tanner met Pam here at All In to Fight Cancer. Tanner left the event a few months later to be diagnosed for what was going to be the fight of his life. He's in the Novant system, and the first thing that happened to Tanner was— He's in Novant. He was assigned a nurse navigator. Guess who showed up in Tanner's room?
Pam!
Pam showed up in Tanner's room, and Pam led him for the rest of the year, right up and through now, through radical surgery, through treatment, through the hardest fight of his life. And Tanner is back here healthy to defend his 6th place at All In to fight cancer! Everybody out of your seats! Everybody out of your seats! Here's what I want to leave you guys with. Here's what I want to leave you guys with, and it's this simple thing. This could be any of us this year at that table. This could be any of us. And that is why we play. That is why we won't stop. That is why we will continue to raise money. That's why we will hold up Jen and Rob's spirit And that's why this thing will go on forever delivering value back to the local cancer community. And that's all because of your support and because of people like this. That's what's important. Thank you very much.
