NEWARK, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine ordered flags to be lowered last week in honor of Perrysburg Township firefighter and paramedic Troy Bernhard who died of occupational cancer.
Firefighters put their lives at risk every day, but more of them are dying from occupational cancer than any burning building or accident, which is why the Newark Fire Union is making sure they get screened to get treatment as early as possible.
“The comradery around the station, just being around the guys, the practical jokes,” said Andy Keefe.
Keefe just started his 26th year as a professional firefighter. He also just started cancer treatments.
“I was having some issues with numbness and tingling and got some tests done and kind of by accident found that I had a thyroid nodule and it is fairly large. We did some more testing and found out it was thyroid cancer. I needed immediate surgery,” Keefe said.
He says no fire compares to the scare of the word cancer.
“Hearing the words from the doctor you have cancer, yeah, scariest thing I have ever done,” Keefe said.
This is why these firefighters are hitting the links for a fundraiser to pay for cancer screening -- hoping an early diagnosis will lead to a better prognosis.
“Cancer amongst firefighters, until something drastically changes, is going to happen. What we need to do, what our focus is now is finding these cancers early. Finding them when treatments are minimally invasive,” Garwick said.
In 2023, 72% of International Association of Firefighters member line-of-duty deaths were due to occupational cancer.
The union is raising money so that 30 firefighters a year can get the screening. They are hoping to have all of their members screened within the next three years.
“We do the diagnostic testing that we would normally need symptoms to test for. We are doing them months, years ahead of time before anyone is symptomatic. They are finding cancer in stage one or even before stage one,” Garwick said.
Greg Keefe is Andy's uncle and a retired Newark firefighter who is also battling occupational cancer.
“Here I am, 13 years later, I thought I was OK. To catch this stuff early, these guys need to know that this stuff is serious business. They need to be taking care of themselves,” said Greg Keefe.
While they take a day of friendly competition to work on their slices, they know the seriousness of the cause behind every shot.
“If we catch one cancer early and someone gets back to work, it is more than worth it,” Garwick said.