April Hunter is many things.

She is a fitness model, photographer, actress, activist, professional wrestler and self-described “nerd with boobs.” But one title is more important to her than any right now — devoted daughter.

Hunter had been a successful model for years before she first worked in World Championship Wrestling in 1999. After gaining a taste for the business, she trained under the late “Killer” Kowalski and became an accomplished independent wrestler. She had performed for more than seven years when, in 2007, the grind of working in such a physical business caught up with her.

“It was just constant abuse,” Hunter told me recently. “I had a couple of really bad bumps [wrestling term for falls] and bad situations. One day, I just couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t pick my neck up off the pillow, couldn’t get up on my own.”

So, at the insistence of her doctor, Hunter officially announced her retirement as an in-ring performer. But now, despite the risks, she is once again wrestling. Not for fame or fortune, but for her mother, Erna.

“Mom was never a fan of me wrestling in the first place,” Hunter said. “My mom was a stay-at-home mom when we were little, so she had my brother and I…We’ve had our ups and downs, but she’s still my mom.”

In 2009, Erna began to feel ill. She went to her family doctor, who insisted she was “over-diagnosing” herself. A week later, Erna checked herself into the emergency room. “Several thousand dollars” worth of tests were performed to confirm the early diagnosis: She had stage four lung cancer.

“They say when someone in the family gets cancer, the whole family gets cancer, which is true,” Hunter said. “It changed everything.”

This led to April’s return to the ring. Even though Erna had just been laid off, she still had full health coverage. But the bills that came were still far too large for her to handle. She will have to claim bankruptcy before she can file for any financial assistance. So Hunter is wrestling again, three years after her injuries forced her retirement, mainly to help her mother financially.

“It allows me to go home, and have my travel expenses taken care of to work in that area,” Hunter, who lives in Louisville, Ky., said.

She is doing this despite the considerable risks to herself. Her neck and lower back are still in horrible shape. By wrestling, she faces the possibility of paralysis, organ failure or the chance that she may not be able to bear children. Because of this, Hunter is being exceedingly careful in her in-ring performances.

“I have a huge say in who I work (with), where I will travel, and what I will and won’t do in the ring,” she said. “And luckily, I’m big enough that I can enforce that.”

Even before her mother’s illness, Hunter had spoken out frequently on the need for reform in the American health care system. Now that it is striking so close to home, she campaigns with even more fire for the issue.

“I travel for a living, I’ve lived in other countries, so I’ve used socialized health care before, and actually a lot of times had less wait and less bills to pay,” Hunter said

“It kills me when people argue with me who have never left their backyard, they have never been to another country, and yet they love to tell me that the Canadian health care system is horrible. No, it’s not! I’ve used it lots of times. I’ve used the Japanese system. I’ve used the British system, where they actually came to my hotel and took care of me. I’ve used it in Germany. I’ve used these health care systems before.”

Hunter points out that her husband is Canadian, and his mother was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. In contrast to her own mother’s situation, “Within a year, everything was taken care of. She had all her follow-up taken care of. She had all her medication. It cost her not a dime.”

Erna, who has been under aggressive chemotherapy, has gotten better in recent days. A tumor in her lung has shrunken enough that she is eligible for the CyberKnife program, a non-invasive treatment that attacks the area directly.

Hunter still wrestles. Still works. Still risks.

“I’m hoping as long as she needs to get this treatment, I’ll be able to help her, travel back and forth, keep an eye on her and help out whenever I can,” Hunter said.

Hunter insists that it is important for the American public to really think for themselves on health care, and not to believe the propaganda they hear. “I would really like to say for people to beware of what they’re being told on television about health care. The best bet would be to just get on the computer and do a little research and check for themselves, and get informed.” O

Jeff McGinnis appears at 7 a.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays on the 92.5 KISS-FM “Andrew Z” show. E-mail Jeff at PopGoesJeff@gmail.com.

Tags: April Hunter, McGinnis, Pop Goes the Culture

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 11:02 am and is filed under Pop Goes the Culture, Star.
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