Joe Diffie photo courtesy of joediffie.com
May 13, 2008 — Joe Diffie has found a great way to show support to a friend in need: He contributed his voice to a new duet, "Long Gone Loner," with Peter Dula, a Slovakian country singer who’s battling cancer for the second time.
"Peter and I have become friends from across the pond, and his strength in character is commendable," Joe says. "He is struggling with cancer and fighting the good fight. Peter is a true testament of a hero."
Born in Slovakia in 1981, Peter originally intended to be a hockey player. He lived for a time in Boston, where he played in a junior hockey league, fully expecting he would end up in the NHL. Instead, he ended up in a doctor’s office, where he was told he had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The cancer was successfully treated over a six-month period, and he went back to Slovakia. There, the cancer returned, and he underwent a bone marrow transplant. While in recovery, he learned guitar, and it was then that he became a country singer, now the frontman for the band the Rowers.
The group recently completed its second album, though it had to cancel a tour when Peter was diagnosed once more with cancer.
Joe’s duet is not the only example of people attempting to help Peter through this round. A MySpace page has been created to raise money to help Peter pay his medical expenses: www.myspace.com/dreamalive1.