GREEN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — On Saturday, family and friends gathered to celebrate pastor Brian Hoehler of New Hope Community Church in Green Township and his most recent accomplishment: graduating with his master's in clinical mental health counseling.
“He’s the type of person that when someone has a need, he really wants to see what he can do to help, and he definitely helps,” said Doris Gibbons, a friend of Hoehler’s and member of New Hope.
But Saturday's party had a deeper meaning — it was a chance for Hoehler’s community to show up for him, just weeks after he was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer.
WATCH: Here's how the community is rallying around Hoehler after his diagnosis
“'I’m sorry to tell you that you have a malignant tumor in your neck,' and he (Brian’s doctor) just plain as day said it that way,” said Jalal Hoehler, Brian’s wife. “My oldest daughter was sitting there next to me; I said I feel like my brain glitched.”
Jalal Hoehler said the diagnosis blindsided them, and that her husband seemed completely healthy.
“We're three weeks into this, and I still don’t know if it makes sense,” Brian Hoehler said.
Brian Hoehler has lived a life of serving and helping others, from being a Cincinnati police officer to a local pastor, starting a food pantry with his wife and now becoming a counselor for those facing mental health issues.
“He’s the one who takes care of everything, and everybody,” Jalal Hoehler said. “So to think of him as the one who’s gonna need the help is a little hard to comprehend.”
Brian Hoehler said being the one receiving support and help now is overwhelming.
“It's been amazing, just the support that’s been poured out in every direction,” he said. “It’s non-stop, and it’s, it’s a lot to, to receive, and it's been really beautiful.”
The pastor will soon begin intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatment, which will be a tough journey that may lead to him needing a feeding tube.
Community members have already purchased everything on Brian’s Amazon wishlist and raised over $16,000 for his family and treatment. They say it’s the least they can do.
“Any way that someone knows how to help, they’re trying to make sure that they can fill that void,” Gibbons said. “I am certain that even with what he is going through at this very moment, I am certain that if I picked up the phone and I said, ‘Brian, I just really need to talk, something is going on, and I need your support’, he would 100% do it.”
Brian Hoehler is set to start chemotherapy and radiation the third week of September.
