Friends of Springfield Fire

Less than one year after hanging up the turnout gear from a 34 year career in the fire service, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. When he told me, I realized I had never outgrown that mentality you wear as a badge of honor being the child of a first responder – my dad was invincible. He was the one who saved people, not the one who needed saving. You hear of this all too often in the fire service, and it goes both ways. A long, hard fought career, and just barely into the hard earned retirement, cancer is discovered. Or, a line of duty diagnosis causing a tidal wave through the department and families. My dad was fortunate in that they caught it early, and it wasn’t an overly aggressive type of cancer. It was my first harsh reality with the hazards of the job, and the fact that they can last far beyond shift days.

Now, I have a husband who is in the fire service, and two little girls who very much wear that same badge of honor – daddy saves people. So, for the men and women of Springfield Fire, and for all the families who are looking forward to a long healthy life with their firefighter – cancer screening it is. Because what better way to do our part than to proactively screen for something which has become so devastatingly prevalent in our heroes.

With love,