VIDEO: Matt Frank, a lieutenant at the Tacoma Fire Department, has spent over half of his life in the fire service. It’s because of that work, he says, that he’s contracted cancer twice, a disease that’s becoming all too common for firefighters.
That’s why the Firefighter Cancer Support Network and International Association of Firefighters designated January as Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month, bringing eyes to the leading cause of line-of-duty death in the fire service. Frank’s cancer journey began in 2013 when he noticed a mole on his back. A year later, one of his lymph nodes was swollen. A doctor’s visit confirmed his suspicions: it was melanoma. After surgeries and three months of immunotherapy, his remission lasted four years, until a routine scan showed the unthinkable: the melanoma spread to his lungs. Today he’s been cancer-free for six years. But not everyone has been as fortunate.
The News Tribune
The post Local firefighters confront cancer risks from on-the-job exposures appeared first on Daily Dispatch.