Most fans know him as Deacon Claybourne on Nashville, but many may not realize the struggle Charles Esten faced when his daughter Addie was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 2 years old.

“You feel very powerless,” Esten tells Nashville's Tennessean newspaper. “It was terrifying.”

Addie is now a healthy, cancer-free 16-year-old, but that hasn’t stopped Esten from working to combat the disease. He hosted the third annual Light the Night Walk in Nashville on Oct. 21, benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help battle and find a cure for blood cancers. He’s also the national chairman for the event across the U.S.

The event took place at Nissan Stadium and featured three colored lanterns: red for supporters, yellow for those who have passed away from blood cancers and white for survivors.

“Being on a Nashville bridge walking with all those survivors and supporters and those close to people who lost their battles — it seems miles from that terrifying, lonely diagnosis,” Esten says.

The actor will return to the small screen for the upcoming fifth season of Nashville, which is slated to debut on its new network, CMT, in January 2017. The network has just released a trailer for the new season, which features most of the core cast members, some new faces and plenty of drama and music.

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