Steve Keaton had several goals to accomplish when he set out to climb Mount Kilimanjaro last month with two of his childhood friends. Keaton, a 54-year old social studies teacher and football, wrestling and girls lacrosse coach at Reagan High School, said before he left that the experience might be “my last great adventure.” The most important goals for him – raising awareness for PTSD and depression in veterans and raising awareness for prostate cancer screenings – definitely came to fruition.
“I’ve had a ton of conversations since I’ve been back about those things,” Keaton said. “Lots of people have told me they have made appointments to go get checked. So many people have told me, ‘Well, we didn’t know you had prostate cancer.
’ It wasn’t a secret, but I wasn’t walking up to people, either. Their awareness now of my situation has opened up some doors to some good conversations. The mission for that has worked out really well.
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Steve Keaton, an assistant football coach, wrestling and girls lacrosse coach at Reagan, before his Mount Kilimanjaro climb. Keaton has had both hips replaced. He was a police officer in Charlotte for five years and served in the Army and was part of the first group of ground forces to enter Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm.
He also has PTSD from his military service. Keaton was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May. His prognosis is good.
He and his friends, Cindy and Jeep Brown of Charlott.