Nuggets coach George Karl will take a break from watching game film this weekend to attend an award-winning documentary called Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare.
Karl, a two-time cancer survivor, will take part in a question-and-answer session after the 7:20 p.m. Saturday showing at the AMC Cherry Creek 8 in Denver. The film’s director, Matthew Heineman, will share the stage with Karl.
“From what I’ve seen and heard, the movie addresses a lot of things that I’ve thought about as a cancer survivor,” Karl said. “My belief is there’s a subtle revolution going on in our country. It’s not a revolt. It’s an energy that says we want to do things differently. We want to do things better than we’re doing them.”
Escape Fire, which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, explores the problems inherent to America’s healthcare system and what can be done to improve and change the system.
Karl, 61, beat prostate cancer in 2005 and is more than two years removed from treatment for head and neck cancer. In addition, his son Coby is a thyroid cancer survivor.
After his experience with cancer, Karl has been an advocate of helping patients and their families get as much information as possible about traditional and alternative treatment methods.
Karl believes that integrative treatments such as exercise, nutrition, acupuncture and massage therapy can be just as important as chemotherapy and radiation. Many integrative methods, however, are not covered by health insurance.
Escape Fire opens Friday in Denver. Click here for ticket information.