The Rollercoaster Podcast

In this episode, I sit down with Nick Rogers and his wife, Cassie, two people whose lives were shattered by the unimaginable loss of their spouses to cancer.

Nick takes me through his wife Anna’s battle with aggressive breast cancer, the moment they thought she had beaten it, and the devastating reality of watching it return and spread. He also shares the impossible decisions he had to make as a father while trying to protect his two young daughters from losing their mom.

Cassie’s story is different, but equally heartbreaking. Her husband Cody went from seemingly healthy to being diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer, and just 66 days later, he was gone. Before he died, Cody told Cassie something incredible: he was already praying for the man who would one day love her and help raise their children.

In this episode:
What it’s really like to lose a spouse to cancer
The impossible decisions parents face while grieving
How Nick and Cassie helped their children process loss
The role faith played when life stopped making sense
How they slowly found hope, healing, and love again

And somehow, through grief, faith, and circumstances that are almost impossible to explain, Nick and Cassie found each other.

This conversation is about losing the person you thought you’d grow old with, parenting through grief, trusting God when nothing makes sense, and slowly discovering that life, and even love, can exist after unimaginable loss.

Key Moments:
00:00 Two spouses lost to cancer, one unexpected love story
03:18 The cancer diagnosis that changed everything
07:04 Finding faith through aggressive cancer treatment
10:19 When chemotherapy made death feel real
13:17 Cancer remission and a new beginning
16:32 The symptoms that revealed a brain tumor
20:07 When cancer came back even more aggressively
24:03 Facing the reality that Anna could die
28:26 The final months of Anna’s cancer battle
34:44 She fell asleep and never woke up
38:09 Telling two young girls their mom was dying
41:40 66 days from pancreatic cancer diagnosis to death
45:00 The scan that revealed a death sentence
49:32 Cody’s final message of faith
51:21 Why Cody prayed for Cassie’s future husband
54:28 Finding love after losing a spouse
56:48 Anna’s message to Cassie before she died

Connect with Me:
Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/tyler.hall/⁠
Connect with Nick & Cassie:
Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/rebuildingrogers/⁠

A few days before 16-year-old Landon took his own life, he spent what felt like one of the best weeks of his life with his cousin, Landon Ashworth.

They ate way too much sushi, played golf, shot guns, laughed, talked about life, and dreamed about the future. When the week ended, Landon told him how much he needed it. He seemed happy. He seemed okay.

Then came the phone call that changed everything.

I sit down with filmmaker, actor, writer, and creator Landon Ashworth for an incredibly raw conversation about suicide, autism, grief, survivor’s guilt, and the things we sometimes don't see until it's too late.

In this episode:
Losing his 16-year-old cousin Landon to suicide

The warning signs he wishes he had recognized sooner

Growing up autistic, masking, bullying, and feeling misunderstood

The survivor’s guilt he still carries after Landon’s death

Turning grief into his deeply personal film Go On

Landon opens up about experiencing suicidal thoughts himself and why he now isn’t afraid to directly ask someone if they’re thinking about taking their own life.

We also talk about the painful reality of trying to help someone find their way out of the darkness, why emotional pain can feel impossible to escape, and the importance of finding something worth holding onto.

This conversation is heavy. But more than anything, it’s about choosing to keep going.

Key Moments:
00:00 The week before everything changed
03:03 When Landon’s future fell apart
06:25 The week that made him feel okay again
10:02 The phone call no one expected
13:43 The guilt of missing the signs
17:02 The suicide warning signs he missed
20:23 The reality of masking autism
24:00 Why other people’s opinions mean nothing
29:39 What an autistic brain can feel like
34:29 The Hollywood advice Landon couldn’t accept
38:00 Why vulnerable people started finding him
41:37 Turning Landon’s suicide into Go On
45:01 Finding a reason to stay alive
48:02 How to get out of emotional hell

Connect with Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tyler.hall/

Connect with Landon Ashworth:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/landonashworthdirects/

#SuicidePrevention #AutismAwareness #SurvivorsGuilt

When I called Mya Ludwig a few weeks ago, I expected a hard conversation. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer, undergone a double mastectomy, and was halfway through chemotherapy. Instead, I hung up feeling like Mya had somehow helped me.

So I knew I needed to bring her back to the podcast.

Mya opens up about the moment she discovered the lump, what treatment has really been like, and how losing her hair challenged the way she saw herself. But what impacted me most was her perspective. She refuses to let cancer become her identity or allow fear about tomorrow to steal the life she still gets to live today.

We talk about learning to put yourself first, finding joy in incredibly difficult seasons, and how a traumatic brain injury years earlier taught Mya lessons she never imagined she'd need again.

And making this conversation even more special, Mya's brother Adam joins us again, bringing the same joy and personality we loved the first time.

In this episode:
The moment Mya discovered something was wrong
Why she refuses to live in the "what ifs"
What losing her hair taught her about identity
How to support someone without making them feel helpless
Finding one small reason to keep going on the hardest days

This conversation reminded me that we don't always get to choose what happens to us. But we do get to choose how we show up through it.

Key Moments:
00:00 The Lump Maya Knew Was Cancer
03:18 The Attitude Toward Cancer That Changed My Life
07:44 Why Cancer Forced Maya to Finally Put Herself First
11:02 Why Maya Refuses to Feel Sorry for Herself
14:44 Refusing to Let Cancer Take Over Her Life
18:02 What Someone With Cancer Actually Needs From You
21:04 Losing Her Hair Changed How Maya Saw Herself
25:40 The One Thing Maya Does on Her Darkest Days
29:26 Maya’s Brother Adam Returns to the Podcast
31:20 How Adam Reacted to Maya’s Cancer Diagnosis
34:01 The Joy Adam Brings Everywhere He Goes
38:19 Adam’s Unfiltered Take on the Raiders
41:29 Adam’s Message to Anyone Going Through a Hard Time

Connect with Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tyler.hall/

Connect with Mya:
IG: @minimamamya (https://www.instagram.com/minimamamya/)

In this episode, I sit down with Matthew Griffin, who spent 21 years serving in the military and law enforcement. During those years, Matt saw things most of us will never see. But one call would stay with him for decades.

As a young police officer, Matt responded to the accidental death of two-and-a-half-year-old Benny Jr., the son of a friend. Matt was the first officer on scene and performed CPR, but Benny didn’t survive. What followed was years of guilt, nightmares, drinking, and the belief that if he had reacted just seconds sooner, maybe he could have saved him.

The trauma didn’t stay at work. Slowly, Matt began losing himself, his marriage, his identity, and eventually his desire to keep living.

In this episode, we talk about:
The call involving two-year-old Benny Jr. that changed Matt’s life forever

The hidden reality of PTSD, trauma, and mental health among police officers and first responders

How undercover police work consumed Matt’s identity and contributed to the breakdown of his marriage

The moments that pushed Matt toward suicide and what ultimately kept him here

Why simply checking on someone can be more powerful than we realize

This conversation is about what happens when the people we expect to save everyone else are quietly falling apart themselves.

And why sometimes surviving starts with giving life one more hour. One more day.

Key Moments:
00:00 The Police Call That Changed Everything
03:03 Meeting Benny Jr. Days Before the Tragedy
10:24 The Guilt That Haunted Him for Years
18:02 The Hidden Mental Health Crisis in Policing
24:18 When Undercover Police Work Took Over His Life
27:31 Losing His Marriage, Home and Identity
32:14 Taking Accountability for Who He Became
36:04 His Chief Checked on Him, Then Died by Suicide
42:04 The Phone Call That Saved Matt’s Life
48:47 Why Checking In on Someone Could Save a Life
53:22 “If Today Is a Good Day to Die, So Is Tomorrow”
59:44 The Check-In Every Leader Should Be Doing
1:03:29 What Matt Would Say to Someone Considering Suicide

Connect with Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tyler.hall/

Connect with Matt:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormatthewgriffin/

In this episode, I sit down with Olivia Burnett, who lost her dad, Kevin, to stage four colon cancer at just 24 years old. He was her Superman, the person who gave her confidence, made her feel unstoppable, and always reminded her that she was “golden.” Within months of his death, grief pulled Olivia into a darkness she never expected.

She tried therapy. Medication. Exercise. Friends. Family. Everything people tell you to do when you're struggling with depression. But nothing seemed to break through. Eventually, Olivia found herself sitting on her bed with a bottle of pills in her hand, believing suicide was the only way out.

Then two words entered her mind: Hold on. That tiny piece of hope was enough.

In this episode, we talk about:
Losing her dad to stage four colon cancer at just 24 years old
The delayed grief that sent Olivia into a devastating battle with depression
The night she believed suicide was her only way out and the two words that stopped her
How tiny, everyday decisions helped her slowly find hope, resilience, and purpose again
Turning unimaginable pain into a reason to help others hold on through their darkest moments

This conversation isn't about pretending everything gets better overnight. It's about what can happen when you hold on long enough to see what comes next.

Key Moments:
00:00 My Dad Was Healthy Then Everything Changed
04:06 The Signs of Stage 4 Colon Cancer We Missed
08:02 The Night I Watched My Dad Die
11:12 The Future Cancer Stole From Us
15:03 How My Dad Faced Death Without Fear
19:03 Finding Yellow Socks in the Darkness
22:09 Why “Choose Happiness” Isn't That Simple
25:16 When Grief Turned Into Severe Depression
28:03 The Night I Almost Ended My Life
31:16 Turning My Pain Into Purpose
35:46 How I Finally Climbed Out of the Darkness
39:34 The Small Decisions That Saved Me
41:06 What My Dad Would Say to Me Today

Connect with Me:
Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/tyler.hall/⁠

Connect with Olivia:
Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/twentysomething_podcast/⁠