TAMPA, Fla. — For one Bay area family, this Father’s Day carries special meaning.
After facing cancer diagnoses just months apart, father and son Jack and Rob Higgins are now celebrating being cancer-free and using their experience to encourage others to stay proactive about their health.
Rob Higgins, CEO of Athletics at the University of South Florida, and his father Jack were both diagnosed with cancer in 2024. Their journeys through treatment overlapped, creating an emotional challenge neither family expected to face.
Jack Higgins was vacationing in Greece when doctors first discovered bladder cancer. After returning to the United States, he began treatment at Moffitt Cancer Center, where doctors removed the cancer and prescribed chemotherapy and targeted radiation therapy.
Just weeks later, Rob Higgins received his own life-changing diagnosis.
Although he felt healthy and had no symptoms, Higgins decided to undergo a routine cancer screening. The results revealed a four-centimeter tumor.
“When I woke up from the procedure, I was surrounded by a team of doctors who shared I had a 4-centimeter tumor that didn’t need to go to pathology — that it was definitely cancer,” Higgins recalled. “A week after that, I found out that it had spread to my lymph nodes.”
As father and son navigated treatment at the same time, they often crossed paths during appointments and chemotherapy sessions. While both faced uncertainty, they found strength in supporting one another.
For Jack Higgins, watching his son battle cancer was particularly difficult.
“They don’t allow you to trade places with a person,” he said. “You’d say, ‘Why him? Just take me.’ That doesn’t work.”
Instead, the two relied on encouragement, resilience, and their close family bond to push through treatment together.
After four weeks, 20 radiation treatments and four rounds of chemotherapy, Jack completed his treatment and rang Moffitt’s Call for Courage Bell, marking a major milestone in his recovery.
One month later, Rob celebrated the same moment, ringing the bell after completing six weeks of treatment.
Today, both men are cancer-free and focused on sharing an important message about the value of early detection.
Higgins said his diagnosis came despite feeling completely healthy. Looking back, he believes he should have undergone screening years earlier because of his family history.
With Father’s Day serving as a reminder of the bond that helped carry them through one of the most difficult periods of their lives, both men hope their story inspires others to prioritize preventive care and follow recommended cancer screening guidelines.
“I am very proud of my son,” Jack said. “Not just for getting through this, but for all that he’s accomplished.”
Rob shared a similar sentiment about his father.
“He’s been an incredible dad, and I wish him the best Father’s Day.”
Their advice is simple: Don’t wait for symptoms to appear. Talk to your doctor about your family history, understand the screening recommendations that apply to you, and stay current with preventive health exams.
For the Higgins family, one routine screening made all the difference.
Jason Lanning
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