Unlocking Resilience: A Real and Raw Conversation with Stuntman Stu

Unlocking Resilience: A Real and Raw Conversation with ‘Stuntman’ Stu

Eric Deschamps:

He’s a famous radio personality with a powerful story of courage and resilience. He’s battled cancer twice, faced off with a heart attack, and talks openly about mental health challenges. And he’s coming up next.

Rob Dale:

Welcome to delivered richly podcast. We are so excited today to have with us a guest. He’s a local radio personality. Really. I mean, this guy owns the city of Ottawa.

Eric Deschamps:

He’s a big deal.

Rob Dale:

Everyone knows who Stuntman Stu is. And Stu, it’s great to have you here.

Stuntman Stu:

Good morning, guys.

Rob Dale:

How are you doing today?

Stuntman Stu:

I’m doing really well.

Rob Dale:

Awesome. Well, we love to have guests on our show. We love to have them kind of share their stories, and you’ve got a pretty powerful story, but maybe tell us a little bit about your upbringing, because I learned something about you just recently that I think is going to shock Ottawa nation.

Stuntman Stu:

What?

Rob Dale:

You’re not born in Ottawa.

Stuntman Stu:

I’m not. What? I’m not. I’ve been in Ottawa 30 years. 30 years? Originally from Montreal.

Eric Deschamps:

From Montreal?

Stuntman Stu:

The west island.

Rob Dale:

Wow, you’re an outsider.

Stuntman Stu:

I am, yes.

Eric Deschamps:

Is that where you learned to hate pineapple on pizza? Is that where that started?

Stuntman Stu:

I learned that from day one. But I also learned to hate the Maple Leafs.

Eric Deschamps:

I hate the maple leaf.

Rob Dale:

Okay, so now we’ve brought you back in. Maybe tell us a little bit about your upbringing.

Stuntman Stu:

Who are you? I was born in Montreal. We moved to the West Island, and I’m an only child. That’s why I didn’t have any brothers and sisters. My parents told me I broke the mold, so I grew up Montreal. I went to high school at Lindsay Place High School, which is now closed. Actually. The new sitter of the House. Speaker of the House is from Lindsay Place High School.

Stuntman Stu:

I just learned that yesterday. Nice. And I moved to Ottawa in 94. Wow.

Rob Dale:

And you got into radio. Now tell me a bit about that journey because again, we have a lot of people who listen to the podcast who are from outside of Ottawa, from really around the world. We’ve got so many great listeners.

Stuntman Stu:

Good morning, Belgium.

Rob Dale:

Yeah, exactly. We have some Belgium listeners.

Eric Deschamps:

Belgium listening just yeah, our audience just grew in Belgium.

Rob Dale:

Thanks for that. But certainly for those of you that are maybe outside, you may not realize, I’m not sure if there’s anyone on radio locally who’s more well known than you. There might be a couple. Your co host is somebody who’s quite well known, but you certainly have been involved in so much.

Stuntman Stu:

I’m a media horror.

Rob Dale:

Yeah, exactly. You’ve done it so much.

Eric Deschamps:

Is there a trending hashtag along those front stuntman stew?

Stuntman Stu:

Media horror.

Rob Dale:

Media horror. I used to be.

Eric Deschamps:

If there isn’t one, I’m starting later.

Rob Dale:

Yeah, it will be by the end of the day.

Eric Deschamps:

I just started it now, actually.

Rob Dale:

How’d you get into radio?

Stuntman Stu:

I fell into radio because I’m too dumb to do anything else. But I remember my father was driving me to school. I was in grade five and I’d been kicked out of my original elementary school. I’d been kicked out of four schools, by the way. Shocking. And he was driving me to school and grade five, we were listening to Aaron and Tasso, a former Montreal radio show. And he said, I’d love to get Aaron’s paycheck at the end of the week. So that stuck with me.

Stuntman Stu:

And I’m like, okay, I’ll do morning radio. Yeah.

Eric Deschamps:

And when did you first get started?

Stuntman Stu:

I first got started, I tried to get involved in to I was at Sejup after high school. Had a radio show on campus that had five people listening and sorry, that was my hospital calling me. Oh, piss off. It’s fine. Sure you don’t want to take no. So I had a radio show with five people that listened. It was called the Mr. Stew Show.

Stuntman Stu:

I could play whatever I wanted. Then I had a show at Concordia Radio in that summer, summer of 93. And then I came to Ottawa with a bunch of roommates in 94 called Gonkan College Home. And Ottawa is supposed to be a shortstop. It ended up being a lifestop. Yeah. 30 years. 30 years.

Stuntman Stu:

Wow.

Rob Dale:

For your radio stints, has it mostly been music where you’ve been involved? I know that’s what you’re doing now. Has it always been that? Did you kind of look into except.

Stuntman Stu:

For one stint where I did sports radio, the worst mistake of my life. I’m saying that honestly because I wanted out of rock radio. I felt in my head I’d done ten years, I felt I knew everything. And I made the jump to Team 1200, became TSN 1200 and the worst three years of my life. I wasn’t prepared for what was coming because I knew a little bit of hockey, but you have to know everything about sports. And there was mornings where I was sitting there, I’m like, I don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. I’ll just play along and act. And if I was doing sports radio today, the listeners would kill me.

Eric Deschamps:

Right.

Stuntman Stu:

Because listeners know more than yeah, well.

Rob Dale:

And of course, our producer Steve steve, that’s a lot of ore that we allow you.

Eric Deschamps:

He never gets that excited. No, that’s the most excited I’ve seen him off camera.

Stuntman Stu:

Sorry.

Rob Dale:

There you go. Of course, he was our very first guest ever in sharing his story. And of course, the journey of what happened after kind of life after radio, going through all of that kind of stuff. And so I know that there’s a connection. And you guys know each other as well. And of course, the Ottawa I’m assuming the Ottawa radio community is not a huge community.

Stuntman Stu:

It’s very small.

Rob Dale:

May not all be close or friends, but they all know each other, certainly. And you run in some of those same circles you started to you’re certainly known as a community builder. And this is where even in getting ready for this episode, when I mentioned to people, oh, we’ve got stuntmans, too. I have yet to meet a single person who goes, who like, everyone knows who you are because of not just the radio. I mean, you’re on a pretty popular radio station. Sure.

Eric Deschamps:

His hat’s not going to fit if you keep going.

Rob Dale:

I didn’t say they said good things about you, just that they know you.

Stuntman Stu:

Right. They know you. You got that prick on your podcast.

Eric Deschamps:

You are infamous.

Rob Dale:

No, but it’s because you’re so involved in the community. You do so many things in the community. What drives that for you?

Stuntman Stu:

Well, just to that point, I had a kid at Farm Boy. He said you’re stunned too. I said yeah. And my head goes big and goes, you came to my elementary school. I’m like, when I was in grade one. How old are you now? I’m 18. I’m like, thanks for making me feel old as fuck.

Rob Dale:

Right?

Eric Deschamps:

Exactly. Those are the kinds of recognitions we don’t want to get.

Stuntman Stu:

Yeah. I would do every event I could get my hands on, because if there was nobody doing it, I wanted to be in front and center. And I felt if I could get myself in front of a community, either 30 people or 300 people, it would get my name out and get the station’s name out.

Eric Deschamps:

Because your community builder reputation precedes you. Tell us about no more bullies. I was fascinated by that.

Stuntman Stu:

We launched. No more bullies. As soon as I moved over from Sports to I went from Sports to Bob FM. After Bob FM, they moved me to Magic. Magic became moved. So on magic. We decided to launch a no more bowling campaign. I was bolding in high school.

Stuntman Stu:

No surprise. Why such a good kid? I shoot my mouth off and get beat up at recess. But I remember there was a story in The Citizen, and we were like, in the paper, I can’t believe this still goes on. This still happens. And so I said, If I have to Tweet, if I have to go to every student in the city, I will. And Twitter lit up with, that’s a great idea. I went for a nap, and I woke up from a nap, and a couple of thousand retweets later, everyone’s like, you should do this. So we visited 10,000 students wow.

Stuntman Stu:

With an antibullying message. We had a full campaign with Tachio and Youth Net. We had a guest speaker on who was very passionate in the community. We had a guy by the name of oh, God, I’m drawing a blanket. His name he’s going to really be mad at me because I’m forgetting his name. That’s the radiation from cancer. Such a great it’ll come to me later in the broadcast. But a really great musician that joined us.

Rob Dale:

Wow. I would assume some of the stories that kids would tell you, the stuff that they’d go through.

Stuntman Stu:

The most rewarding thing about that is we would finish in the auditorium and teachers would come up to me and say, I’ve never seen an antibullying presentation like that. We were skeptical when we booked you guys. We thought, what could the radio station tell us that we don’t already teach the kids? And kids were coming up to me with wonderful stories like, I was beat up, I related to what you said. And they only listened because I was a PA announcer of the sends. That’s what got their attention. And that’s fine.

Rob Dale:

Yeah, listen, you use whatever tool or whatever it is that open the platform that opens up the door for you.

Stuntman Stu:

Peter Joined was the name of the musician.

Eric Deschamps:

And what was one of the most meaningful community endeavors that you’ve been a part of? I mean, is it normal bullies? Was there something else where you felt you made or really made a difference compared to other ventures you’ve been part of?

Stuntman Stu:

Going back to the Bear in the late 90s, early 2000s, we did a radio thon for the Children’s Hospital and that to me was the most memorable because we had parents on with their kids that were in the hospital for long periods of time and we were young broadcasters. We had never experienced this kind of emotional connection before and that totally changed my opened my eyes about the city and really just got the connection right there. So I’m looking back at my career. If I was asked, that was the best thing we’ve ever done.

Eric Deschamps:

Wow. Amazing. Now you have to tell us because there’s so many people you’re known across the city on social media. I mean huge following on social media. I’m always amazed at just how the reach of course, we’ll get into your story, other parts of your story I think that have been significant towards that. But stuntman Stu, where does the name come from?

Stuntman Stu:

What a stupid name. So 95, 96, I’m working at 106.9 the Bear. No, 95. I’m still a student at Algonquin College and I had an exam to do. I had to go and interview famous people. So I called up Doc and Woody at the Bear and said, hey, I’m just a student at Algonquin College. Can I come and interview you guys? And they said, yeah. So I came in and they had me sitting in the studio for a couple of months doing sweet fuck all.

Stuntman Stu:

Go get the carts. Go get the CDs. Right? Carts. What’s a cart and old school reference.

Eric Deschamps:

To all our younger viewers.

Stuntman Stu:

Commercials run these thing called carts. So one morning we found out that the tragically helped were coming to town because back then there was no social media and we found out 530 in the morning and Shay 106, our arch rival, were broadcasting live from across street of Barrymors where the tragically up was going to play that night.

Eric Deschamps:

Wow.

Stuntman Stu:

And they had, like, 500 people waiting in line. The bear had no idea. Nobody tipped off the bear. So Doc looks at me and says, do you want to go? And I said no. But, like, okay. I didn’t have access to the Bear van, which I loved. I eventually had access to that beautiful machine. And I went down to my shooting.

Eric Deschamps:

Back in the day. Did it have, like, shag carpet on the floor?

Stuntman Stu:

No, that was 54 Rock. Okay.

Eric Deschamps:

Just clarifying. This is important information.

Stuntman Stu:

So I go down to Bank Street and I shoot a little Chevy Cavalier. I grabbed a bunch of Bear stickers, and every time Dave Shooty, the promotion director went over to the people in line, giving them Shay stickers. I would take the Shay sticker and give them the Bear sticker, and I would put a Bear sticker on the Shay mugs that they would give out and put Bear stickers on the Shay bisbees. And he’s like, what the fuck are you doing? Who the fuck are you? I’m like, I’m Stu from Malgonquin. I’m from the bear. So I got the crowd to say, 106.9 the Bear Rock. Shay sucks. Every time shay was broadcasting live guerrilla marketing.

Stuntman Stu:

Immature. But that was radio wars back then, right? And I came back to the station, and Doc and Woody sat me down. They said, Good job this morning, but you can’t be known as Stu the college kid. I’m like, what’s wrong with that? Right?

Eric Deschamps:

Why not?

Stuntman Stu:

And Doc says stuntman stews.

Eric Deschamps:

Studley.

Stuntman Stu:

Stew. Superman. Stew. And then eventually they said, stuntman Stew. And remember looking Doc saying, doc, that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. 30 years later, it’s paying the mortgage, right? Yeah.

Eric Deschamps:

What a story.

Rob Dale:

I think it’s one of the most brilliant names. It does. It sticks, right? It flows off.

Stuntman Stu:

I’ll be in Farm Boy, and an old lady will say, Stuntman Stu. Yeah, stuntman. But I mean, Dave Tiger Williams. People have nicknames. I’ll be 80 years old in the retirement home. Hey, stuntman, right?

Eric Deschamps:

It sticks with you, right?

Rob Dale:

Yeah, it’ll always be there. And, again, those of you I encourage people to follow you on some social media. You’re certainly on Twitter a lot. That’s where I see a lot of your stuff. I know you’re on Facebook.

Stuntman Stu:

You follow me on Tinder, too, which.

Eric Deschamps:

Is kind of a Tinder, which is.

Rob Dale:

A little bit weird.

Stuntman Stu:

But yeah, he does that.

Rob Dale:

White left.

Eric Deschamps:

He does that.

Rob Dale:

I don’t know. Is it white left or right?

Stuntman Stu:

I don’t know. I have no idea.

Rob Dale:

I don’t know if he’s saying I swiped left was it didn’t work. That’s why I’m so bad at this stuff. Well, it worked.

Eric Deschamps:

He’s here on the show today.

Rob Dale:

Exactly. Yeah.

Stuntman Stu:

What kind of a podcast is this?

Rob Dale:

You are certainly in your social media like that. I mean, you’re kind of the epitome of dad joke, right? I mean, you’re always goofing around, joking around.

Stuntman Stu:

My kids hate my dad jokes.

Rob Dale:

Sure.

Eric Deschamps:

Well, my kids hate mine. But it’s part of our job, isn’t it? Like it’s a responsibility.

Stuntman Stu:

Totally.

Eric Deschamps:

Men, we carry that mantle.

Rob Dale:

You do have this kind of exterior, this persona, the bubbly, fun, crazy, silly, all of that kind of stuff.

Stuntman Stu:

I always wanted to be a broadcaster. That’s the same off the mic. So if somebody comes up to me at a grocery store, I want them to experience me the same way that I am on the radio.

Rob Dale:

You’re this kind of goofy.

Stuntman Stu:

Exactly. Yeah.

Eric Deschamps:

And that’s what I sensed even. I mean, we’re meeting each other for the first time in person today. And I sense that I sense that actually what you see online, what you see or hear on the radio is what you get.

Stuntman Stu:

Yeah, because I meet famous people all the time and it disappoints me when they don’t live up to what I have them in my head.

Eric Deschamps:

Right.

Rob Dale:

So you’re this online personality, big personality, all of this kind of stuff. And I remember the day your first video that you put out announcing that you had leukemia and how emotional that was, obviously for you and your family, beyond words. But how that? I mean, the whole city took a collective breath when you shared that video.

Stuntman Stu:

Yeah, that was emotional. That was posted at 1015 at night from the Ottawa Hospital. I was there alone. The doctors just told me you have leukemia. And I foolishly said, what’s that? And the doctor said, It’s cancer. And I was sitting with the sense doctor doc Chow. He was with me at the hospital and he said, you’ll be the most requested person requested survivor of cancer ever in the city to host events. And I said, okay, but can we beat this? And the doctor said, we can.

Stuntman Stu:

So I said, light it up. Let’s go. But the amount of response from the community I wasn’t expecting. Right. And I think people freaked out. Not freaked out, but saw that somebody my age could get I was 41 years old and I got cancer. And I think a lot of people saw that and said, holy shit, he can get cancer. Yeah.

Stuntman Stu:

So now, all these years later, I’m still getting messages constantly on my Facebook, direct messages. Hey, my father’s going through this. My sister’s going through I’m going through this. What advice do you I you know.

Rob Dale:

You’Re somewhat answering it just with what you just shared there, but maybe go into a bit more detail. You made a choice to be completely transparent. Transparent and open with this journey.

Stuntman Stu:

I was selfish because the reason why I decided to share it is because I wanted free therapy. I mean, the hospital is like, would you like to talk to somebody? I said, no, I don’t want to talk to somebody. I would engage with listeners every day because I wasn’t on the radio. So I wanted that instant feedback. I wanted to hear people. I wanted to share my story. Like every procedure, like, I would go in and have a bone marrow biopsy where they shove a giant needle up pretty much above your ass and it hurts like hell. You got to take meds to calm you down.

Stuntman Stu:

I would share. I’m like, I’m going on Facebook Live, and I would turn over. I wouldn’t show my ass because nobody wants to see my ass, but I would take people along for the ride. I said, you’re going to learn. I got that idea from Max Keeping, because Max Keeping for years had problems with his health, and he welcomed the audience into it.

Eric Deschamps:

Well, I think hope is a currency that people long for, and when people that we look up to or that are well known to us, like yourself, go through something of that nature and share the story openly, you’re dealing out some serious hope to the average, everyday person who’s going through something similar. I lost my dad to cancer back in 2008 after a two year battle. He didn’t make it, but he fought courageously, and it takes a toll, obviously, on the person afflicted, but on their entire network.

Stuntman Stu:

I didn’t realize at the time the amount of PTSD that it would give me because I would go back to the hospital and I would never go back to the emergency room, because I’m like, that’s where I found out it’s no go zone for me, right? And I don’t like going back. That was a hospital that called for another appointment. I don’t like going back. I mean, they do a great job, bar none, but I don’t like walking back into that building.

Rob Dale:

I bet I remember. It’s interesting. I had a daughter who passed away many years ago and I share that story on the podcast. And like you, right from when she passed away, which was quite a few years ago, was very open and transparent about the journey of grief and all of that as a way of kind of bringing people along in hopes of helping and supporting other people in their own journeys. But I remember the first time walking back into of course, General and Chio were connected to each other, and it was at the Chios where she died. And me coming back in there the first time I was a minister at the time, and going in to visit somebody, and the overwhelming sense of dread, the emotion as I walked, and I was, where is this coming from?

Eric Deschamps:

I did almost in a surprising kind of way, yeah. I recently had to walk through the cancer ward at the hospital and was similar. I can only imagine that someone like you’ve gone through what you went through it.

Stuntman Stu:

I have friends who are cops and firefighters, and they’ve seen the worst of the city and the worst of the worst, and I say I have PTSD. And I feel bad for saying that because that’s real PTSD, in my opinion. But my shrink told me that your PTSD is no different. Right? If it’s PTSD in your head, then it’s yeah.

Rob Dale:

Yeah, exactly what Dr. Sherry that’s exactly what she said. Because when she first said, you understand you have PTSD. And I was like, no, I don’t. That’s what war people. It’s absolutely and it’s so important. It’s why therapy is so important, right, to work through all of this kind.

Eric Deschamps:

Of talk to us about I mean, yours is a story for me, anyway, a story of courage and resilience. I mean, you faced off with the first bout with leukemia. You would face off with cancer a second time not that long ago, a heart attack. As a matter of fact, when we first reached out to you to be on the show, it wasn’t long after we had just started talking about it that you experienced your heart attack, and we’re so thrilled that you’re now here with us healthy.

Stuntman Stu:

Well, thank you.

Eric Deschamps:

Right? And you’ve talked openly about some of the mental health challenges that have come out of that. What are some of the major lessons you’ve learned? Like, how’s it changed you, the way you look at the world, the way you look at life.

Stuntman Stu:

I’ve become an old fart. I complain about the dumbest things. My wife says, can you not be an old man? Like, I’m driving down the street, and I see somebody looking at their phone while they’re driving. I honk the horn. My wife is like, can you stop, please? Can you fucking stop? My wife says, Keep your beak out of somebody’s business. I’m like, but they could kill me. Let somebody else worry about that. I become set in my ways.

Stuntman Stu:

I remember I told my wife, I said, I’m going to do this. She said, no, you’re not. Everything I have to get approved by my wife now.

Eric Deschamps:

Well, and that’s probably wise, actually. That’s probably wise for every guy. Yeah, every guy watching this.

Stuntman Stu:

Get it approved.

Eric Deschamps:

Get the check mark before you proceed.

Stuntman Stu:

Right?

Rob Dale:

Yeah.

Stuntman Stu:

But how have I changed my life? I appreciate life more now. I still have a complaint about the stupid little things in my life. Like, yesterday, I was on hold for an hour with my company that provides a water filter, and I’m on Twitter, and I’m bitching about it. I want every CEO to go online right now, call your 1800 number, and the guy that actually works for the company messaged me, like, what’s your fucking problem?

Eric Deschamps:

Your 800 number does it and pick up.

Stuntman Stu:

Like, Is it have me on hold for an hour, guys, double charge me. Anyways, my wife’s like, can you stop bitching about your problem? Nobody cares.

Rob Dale:

It’s interesting. We often talk about some of the books that have influenced us. Michael Easter’s Comfort Crisis was a book, and I mentioned the chapter that’s probably had the most profound impact on me from that book is a chapter where he talks about and this is a guy that the book’s called Comfort Crisis. He talks about why we’re unhappy in life. And he says, one of the secrets to becoming happy is you need to think about your death at least three times every day, which is kind of like, what? And certainly there’s all kinds of research on that. And it is something that I do on a regular basis is contemplate the idea that life can we don’t know when that day, when your numbers embrace the moments to experience that. What was that for you to be kind of facing that? So clearly, it’s easy for me to say sitting healthy, going, yeah, I think about my death every day versus somebody who has experienced close to death on a number of occasions. And how has that impacted how you think about death? And then how does that help you appreciate life?

Stuntman Stu:

It’s changed my life completely. I’ve got two kids that are teenagers, but they were younger when I got sick. And I remember the night that I got diagnosed the first time in 2016. The doctor said, had you gone home and slept, you would have died. Because my levels were so low.

Eric Deschamps:

Wow.

Stuntman Stu:

It’d be like a race car going out with no gas.

Eric Deschamps:

Right?

Stuntman Stu:

So I had that looming in my head. I only had two nights since I got sick the first time where my mind went off to another place and my wife said, does that pay rent in your head? No, I love that. Don’t think about that. Yeah, she’s a pretty smart lady. Yeah. If you’re watching, honey, you’re pretty smart. I love you, honey. Right?

Rob Dale:

Wow. So how has it changed the appreciation for every day? I get that. Listen, I’m brace. I’m coming up on 56.

Eric Deschamps:

You’re the oldest one at the time.

Rob Dale:

I am the oldest one at the time.

Eric Deschamps:

Just making notes to Rob is the old man.

Rob Dale:

And I love my dream in my future is to be Clint Eastwood from Gran Torino, just yelling at people to get off my lawn. Right. My wife says about exactly. Okay, but how do you embrace the day?

Stuntman Stu:

I wake up in the morning at 05:00 in the morning, I say, oh, fuck. And I go stretch. And then I remind myself what I do for a living. I do the show from home. I told management, I said, I’m not coming back. I’ve had cancer twice. I have speech issues from all that radiation because they did the radiation not only on my full body, but my brain too. So that fucked me up.

Stuntman Stu:

I couldn’t do the sends anymore. I quit five years ago. I said, I can’t do the late nights and early mornings anymore. I would stumble at sends games where people in the media would notice and they’d send me texts, messages, and I actually got sent home from a game I got pulled after the second period. Wow. January of 2017. I’ll never forget that night. Driving home and bawling my eyes on 17.

Rob Dale:

So I remember because, of course, there was a comment about it on Twitter, I assume is where I would have seen it. But I do remember that game where the announcer changed for the third period.

Stuntman Stu:

And Jonathan Troche, who took over for me, is a great guy. And I always get messages from senfen. You’re the greatest of all. No, I’m not the greatest of all time. Michel Lacois in Montreal is the best PA announcer in the world.

Eric Deschamps:

Dads, what are some of the I mean, again, facing off know illness on several occasions and as you said, the treatment themselves? I remember with my dad, like, the treatment was sometimes as bad as the disease in terms of the side effects.

Stuntman Stu:

They’re trying to kill you.

Eric Deschamps:

Yeah. What are some of the coping strategies and things that you turn to in the moments where you were pulling it from your toes to keep going?

Stuntman Stu:

Well, the first time I sailed through chemo and I was like, what’s? Everyone talking about this cancer shit’s. Easy, right? And the second time, I was like, holy fuck. It was in the middle of the pandemic. I couldn’t have anybody in my room. And I’m like, I’m a prisoner in my own room. I had CD facility as well, which is a shitty thing to get. I wasn’t even allowed to leave the room. I would like, beg the nurse, please let me go down.

Stuntman Stu:

Tim Hortons so I finally bribed the nurses. I said, Take my card, go down to Timmy’s, buy for the whole staff. Just bring me back a muffin. That was the only thing I could eat every day. Wow, a muffin. And free. Easy. And I’d bar fit up at 645 every single day.

Stuntman Stu:

But the chemo on the second time literally almost killed me. And I would look at it and wake up every day in hospital. I’m like, is today going to be the day that I die? Is today going to be the day that I improve? And once I finally got out of hospital, I came home and I started eating like a pig because I thought, am I going to die? If I’m going to die, I want to have this poutine. That’s what I put on 30 pounds. I used to be fit like you. Now I’m a fat fuck.

Rob Dale:

Fit like you.

Eric Deschamps:

Fit like me.

Rob Dale:

Who am I?

Stuntman Stu:

Notice how he didn’t even look at you? He didn’t even look at you. What I say when I first walked?

Rob Dale:

Fuck you, Stu.

Eric Deschamps:

That will become a real on social media. That moment right there is going to be highlighted for sure.

Rob Dale:

I want to be just like you. Just like me, don’t you?

Stuntman Stu:

I used to look like him. I love your cats, though. Thank. You. That’s the first thing I said when I saw you.

Rob Dale:

Exactly.

Eric Deschamps:

It was, yeah, he doesn’t like our Jeeps, though. I thought this podcast almost didn’t get off this episode. Almost. Two guys or two jeeps. Two guys with two jeeps. And here you are still talking to the Jeep.

Rob Dale:

The jeep wannabe. He wants to buy.

Stuntman Stu:

Not a chance.

Rob Dale:

Exactly.

Stuntman Stu:

That’s pineapple blonde pizza.

Rob Dale:

But to Jim K. Ford, we appreciate.

Stuntman Stu:

Sorry.

Eric Deschamps:

Yes, we talk a lot about living your life, deliberately, living an intentional life. And there’s nothing like having terrible pain show up. It’s a funny thing about humanity. Oftentimes it takes pain, challenge, difficulty, adversity for us to kind of wake up from the day to day coma that we’re in and start making better choices. Start saying, I want to live my life more deliberately. What are some of the choices you’ve made throughout this process that you feel have led to a much more focused existence? I guess?

Stuntman Stu:

Well, for a long time, when I was younger, in my thirty s, I was always trying to make it in with the in crowd. I tried to buy the right car. I wanted to be with the in people. And I said realize after a while, fuck it, I’m going to just are we allowed to swear on this podcast?

Eric Deschamps:

You are allowed to swear. We fucking swear all the time.

Stuntman Stu:

Okay, good. So I was always trying to get in with the right crowd and then I said, fuck it, I’m going to be myself. And only in the last couple of years I said, I’m going to just do what I do. If you like me, you like me. You don’t like me, fuck off. Yeah, I can’t convince you to like me. If you don’t like me, there’s nothing I can do. Yeah.

Stuntman Stu:

And that’s what going through cancer twice and a heart attack put me in that direction.

Eric Deschamps:

Right. Because just trying to live to other people’s expectations, it’s a zero sum equation. Like it’s a losing game constantly.

Stuntman Stu:

Exactly.

Eric Deschamps:

Right.

Stuntman Stu:

And a lot of people, when they’re starting out, they we have to make this amount of money. We have to be with these people. We have to do dress like this, do what you want.

Eric Deschamps:

I want to know who are those people that set those standards that we all feel a need to follow? Because we talk about often, most people live their lives according to the shoulds, wants and have tos of society and never really wake up to what they want.

Stuntman Stu:

Exactly. And social media has ruined us. And I’m saying that as somebody, I mean, I’m saying with Steve Warren in the background. We started Twitter and Facebook back in the day. And remember, Steve would say to me, what are you tweeting about? He would say, you’re tweeting about fresh grass. I would say, I love the smell of fresh grass in the morning. He would tease me. But social media has ruined us.

Stuntman Stu:

It’s made us it’s not real. Social media is not real. So when I’m arguing with people on Twitter, not about politics, I like arguing about food and hockey. Right.

Eric Deschamps:

We tried to stir up some controversy at the beginning there, but you didn’t really bite on the pizza thing.

Stuntman Stu:

But that’s okay.

Eric Deschamps:

We’ll continue that debate on Twitter later.

Rob Dale:

I’ll give you a second to think about this. But before we move into where you are now and just kind of some of those other experience and I’m thinking of this only because someone very close to me was they were visiting a longtime friend who is battling cancer where there is a 41 42 year old mother who has basically been told she is not going to survive this cancer. She is prolonging her life right now and is just AFRAIL of who she was at home. This person in my life was able to go and spend some time with her this week and was just so emotional afterwards because it’s such an incredible place to be. 16 year old daughter who’s basically watching her mother fade away and all of that stuff. And I’ve been there again, like you with losing your dad. I lost my mom to breast cancer. But maybe to share, maybe even to just speak to those who might be listening, who are going through some of those battles, what would you share from your experience? What would you say to them? Some that have hope, some that maybe don’t have hope.

Rob Dale:

So I know it’s a heavy ask of you to speak to that. That’s why I’m giving you a second to kind of think your thoughts on it, but to be able to just communicate to people who are battling something so difficult. As someone who has been there, what would you say?

Stuntman Stu:

I would share the number one quote that I got on my first battle. Somebody said to me, you can’t control the wind, but you can’t adjust your sales. Oh, love that. That resonated with me big time. So much so that on my second journey, I had to remind myself of that because I sat in hospital and I bald my eyes at the first day. And I said, why me? And this poor young doctor had to deal with my bullshit. I’m sorry. You’re not a shrink.

Stuntman Stu:

I know you’re a doctor. You don’t have time for this. But why me? Yeah, I had it once. That’s enough. Why am I getting it? I could get it a third time. Knock on wood. This wood.

Rob Dale:

All of you?

Eric Deschamps:

Yes, all of you.

Stuntman Stu:

But I could technically get sick again. I have no idea. My kids are like, you’re going to get sick again? I said, I don’t know. I hope not. And if I do, will I live? I don’t know. Yeah. So that’s why I’m living every day like it’s my last. But hopefully this won’t be an Immemorium.

Rob Dale:

Let’s watch.

Eric Deschamps:

No, absolutely not, but I love that. And I’ve heard that quote before. It’s so powerful, we can’t control what shows up on our doorstep. All we can control is our response. And again, if you were to say, here’s how my response?

Stuntman Stu:

Yes.

Eric Deschamps:

Right. Like, how would you answer that?

Stuntman Stu:

It’s a loaded question. I don’t know if I can answer it. But I always tell people when they get sick who come to me for advice. Like, I went to a late friend of mine, Derek McClintock, who sadly passed away a couple of years ago. I remember my first battle. I went and visited him in his room, and I said, Help me out here. What am I going to expect? He’s like, this will happen, this will happen, this will happen. And everything that he said would happen.

Stuntman Stu:

And you have to go to somebody who’s gone through it because asking you if you’ve never gone through it because you read a book, I want to talk to somebody who’s actually experienced it.

Eric Deschamps:

Absolutely. It’s not the same. No, it’s not the same.

Rob Dale:

Yeah. I was reminded of that when my daughter passed away. Of course. It’s probably one of the most difficult things that any parent will go through, is to experience that and to have people at the time who would come to me almost trying to I understand what you’re going through. It’s like, fuck you.

Eric Deschamps:

No, you don’t.

Stuntman Stu:

You never know what to say.

Rob Dale:

And that’s exactly right.

Eric Deschamps:

Default response.

Rob Dale:

Yes, we come, or I feel for you, whatever it is. And my comment to this person who was visiting this friend this week was just you being there and just spending time. You don’t have to come up with answers. You don’t have to go there with all this stuff. Just having the person beside you to say you’re not alone is so powerful.

Stuntman Stu:

You have no idea what words mean. I mean, people would message me constantly when I was in hospital, and the words meant a lot because I’m sitting there in a hospital, I’m feeling like, shit. I’m not myself. And I love reading the messages, not, hey, way to go. Just I’m with you. I mean, even reading something like that meant a lot to me.

Eric Deschamps:

Yeah, because I think a lot of folks in there, whatever adversity they’re facing, I think there’s this belief that we feel like we’re the only one, that I’m alone, there’s nobody. And yet when we share our story, I think that’s the power of vulnerability I mean, Brene Brown calls it a superpower, right? Is when we share our story openly, as openly as we’re comfortable, what we realize is we’re not alone. There are others who have been through what we’ve been through or something similar or who are willing to just come alongside and say, rooting for you, man, I’m cheering you on. Right?

Stuntman Stu:

Yeah.

Rob Dale:

Well, even the premise behind living richly is living your best life. And it’s easy to say. Oh, well, that’s easy for you to say. Look at you. You’ve got a good job. You’re healthy. You got some good friends.

Eric Deschamps:

I’m in great shape.

Rob Dale:

You clearly are in great shape. US, too, are fat fuck, but you’re in great shape.

Stuntman Stu:

I didn’t want to say anything.

Rob Dale:

And that’s not what this is about. This is about living your best life regardless of the circumstances you’re in in the moment.

Stuntman Stu:

At the big lottery a couple of weeks ago, the $60 million I was joking with?

Rob Dale:

Yeah. Did you win?

Stuntman Stu:

I didn’t win. Okay. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here. I lose my number. Sorry, guys. Sorry, guys.

Eric Deschamps:

Podcast and all, but I’d be gone.

Stuntman Stu:

I said to my kids, you’re nothing without your health. You can have $68 million, but if you’re not healthy, you have nothing.

Eric Deschamps:

Right?

Stuntman Stu:

You can have the best shoes, the best cars, but if you’re not healthy, you have nothing. And I heard that year for years. Didn’t understand it until I went through it. Yeah.

Rob Dale:

That fits into what Ben Berzeron said just recently. We had Ben Berzeron, who’s a CrossFit coach, and he was on he’s a.

Eric Deschamps:

Legend in the world of CrossFit. He’s a trained, like, seven world champion athletes.

Rob Dale:

The fittest man, the fittest woman. And we talked to him about, again, what is most important. And of course, he recognizes he’s in the health and fitness world, but he argues that its health is more important when it comes to all of the elements of what makes a full life. And he used the example that’s a great example of this wealthy guy on a yacht with all the beautiful women and everything around him, but the guy has strep throat. He’s not thinking about any of that stuff. He’s thinking about the pain that he’s in. And it’s so true. Right.

Rob Dale:

Without your health, all of that is secondary.

Stuntman Stu:

Yeah, totally. 100%. Now, I use that excuse when I go to buy a new Mustang from a dealership, and I always say, no, you’re not. You can’t play the cancer card again.

Eric Deschamps:

There has to be some perks, right? There has to be some benefits of surviving.

Stuntman Stu:

Total of sports cars that I shouldn’t have bought.

Rob Dale:

Right.

Eric Deschamps:

She’s a wise woman. Yeah, absolutely. Kudos to her.

Rob Dale:

Yeah, absolutely. So where are you in your health right now?

Stuntman Stu:

I’m very healthy. I’m walking every day, half hour a day, which does sound like a lot, but I’m fat and I’m out of shape. When you sit around and binge watch shit every day, that’s what happens to your body. Your body goes stiff. Not in a good way, not in the way that you’d get a pill. Yeah. I’m at that point in my life, a pill is needed. I remember the radiation doctor said to me, my first battle, he says, you’re going to have three symptoms.

Stuntman Stu:

You’re going to have cataract surgery, potentially. You have lung cancer, potentially, and loss of libido. That’s all get me fixed.

Eric Deschamps:

Get me fixed right now.

Rob Dale:

We are going to get an email from his wife.

Stuntman Stu:

We are cut.

Eric Deschamps:

That part of Steve could fix just about anything in post, right? Just about anything out. I’m curious. So, again, our podcast is we’ve gotten feedback that people are like, we’re not used to having two guys. Now there’s four of us, usually, but sometimes it’s the two of us. Sometimes it’s the two our two better halves together. We shoot episodes, all four of us. But for the longest time, it was just a bunch of dudes talking about stuff that dudes don’t usually talk about. Talking about your feelings, talking about your inner fears, talking about struggles, talking, again, that vulnerability piece.

Eric Deschamps:

And people have resonated pretty strongly with that message. And, of course, that’s how you’ve been living your life, but it’s all about living richly, living your best life. And I’m curious when I say it, use that language with you. What does living richly mean to you?

Stuntman Stu:

Waking up in the morning and just hearing the sounds of my kids laughing, not fighting with each other and talking to my wife and not getting in shit for once and doing the simplest things. It could be making breakfast. It could be making a salad. Now my life is boring. I used to MC everything I could get my hands on. Now I MC one event a year golf tournament for my buddy Pat Frost in the summer. His eldest has autism. I’ve been doing this tournament for 20 years.

Stuntman Stu:

That’s the only thing I do now, right? My life is boring, and I like it that way. Right.

Eric Deschamps:

Well, it sounds like you’re enjoying the little things that most of us totally. We race through life, right. Not present to those little things.

Stuntman Stu:

I would have never appreciated a tree with the fall colors more than I do now. And it’s so like, I’ve seen this tree a thousand times, 10,000 times, but I look at it every night. I’m like, that’s a beautiful tree. My wife’s like, what are you looking at? I’m like, look at the tree. It’s like, I know. And I’m driving home with my daughter. She works at Saunders Farm. Driving home.

Stuntman Stu:

Bella, look at the clouds. They’re clouds, daddy. Yeah, but look at that cloud. Okay.

Rob Dale:

Yeah. There’s something powerful. So many people talk about being in the moment, and yet they don’t really. Most people are never in the moment.

Eric Deschamps:

Right, to be able to take it.

Stuntman Stu:

My co host, Angie, always gives me shit for walking too slow whenever we’re at an event, I’m like, I’m taking time to smell the roses.

Eric Deschamps:

I think a lot of folks spend time we’re either regretting the past or we’re stressing about the future. But we’re not here right now. And I think what I’m hearing you say is, you’re here.

Stuntman Stu:

I’m here. I don’t regret the past. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve learned from those mistakes. And I tell my kids all the time, I said, you can’t go through life perfect. You’ll make your mistakes, you’ll learn from them. Yeah. If we don’t make mistakes, how are we going to get better, right?

Eric Deschamps:

Absolutely.

Rob Dale:

So what’s next for you?

Stuntman Stu:

I have a project with Ryan Reynolds. No, I’m kidding. He needs a exactly. I don’t have anything on the go, really. I just trying to get through every yeah, yeah.

Rob Dale:

And just kind of just right now focusing in on the health and being able to just appreciate and enjoy family.

Stuntman Stu:

And doing what my wife tells me.

Rob Dale:

To do, which is what keeps you healthy.

Eric Deschamps:

Gentlemen, we hope you’re listening. There’s a lot of wisdom coming from.

Stuntman Stu:

That side of the table right now.

Eric Deschamps:

Stu, it’s been an absolute pleasure having you on the show again. I’ve admired your courageous story from afar. And to be able to have you here in studio and just get to know you on a personal level and hear you talk about it really meaningful for us, really meaningful for our listeners. Before we wrap up, how can people connect with you if they want to follow you on social? Maybe tell us how they can do that.

Stuntman Stu:

Follow me on Twitter at stuntman stu, on Instagram, at stuntman stu, on Facebook as Stu Schwartz on.

Eric Deschamps:

Everything and on Tinder.

Stuntman Stu:

We’re not going to tell sexy bar haven bitch.

Rob Dale:

Nice. Yeah. We will certainly, as we always do in the show notes, we will include all of those links so that you can find and connect with Stu. I want to thank you so much again for tuning in and being a part of our podcast and part of this episode. If this one has spoken to you, I want to encourage you to, like, perhaps even share it, especially if you know somebody that maybe could hear a little bit of what Stu’s journey has been and would bring encouragement and hope to them. Why don’t you make a comment and tag them in that so that they’ll see it as well.

Stuntman Stu:

Operators are standing by. Please make your donation to stuntman Stew. Credit cards, american Express. Well, you don’t discriminate.

Eric Deschamps:

We’ll take all of it. We’ll take all of it. And make sure to go to our website, livingrichly Me, where you can find, of course, all the previous episodes and you can find all the show notes and resources that are referred to on the show. Folks, thanks again for joining us. Living richly nation. It’s a real honor to be with you every week. And until we see you next time, get out there and live your best life.

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