After seven years as a volunteer firefighter in a small firehouse in Stuarts Draft, Virginia, 29-year-old Jonathan Smith got hired on as a professional firefighter at the Augusta County Fire-Rescue in October. While learning the new job, though, Smith was fighting a nagging cough, and flu-like symptoms, that slowly began sapping his strength. After undergoing a series of tests, Smith was delivered a shocking diagnosis: Stage IV, pleural mesothelioma.
Pleural mesothelioma is a cancer, caused by inhaling asbestos fibers, that is found in the outer lining of the lungs, the mesothelium. Although firefighters face exposure to asbestos if the substance is present in a structure that burns or collapses, mesothelioma typically does not develop for decades after exposure. Patients are normally around age 65 or older. It is not likely that Smith contracted mesothelioma on-the-job. His doctors believe his cancer may have come from childhood exposure to asbestos.
Mesothelioma is an aggressive disease, and Smith’s doctors chose an aggressive treatment to begin attacking the tumors in an effort to quickly shrink them. Smith was diagnosed on February 22 and had his first chemotherapy treatment just four days later. Scheduled for up to 12 treatments, three weeks apart, Smith and his doctors hope the chemotherapy treatment will shrink the tumors enough to allow the doctors to surgically remove them at a later date.
All of these treatments come at a high price, and with just five months on the job, Smith needs a lot of time off, but he also needs to maintain his insurance. According to family members, the other firefighters in his company have donated enough leave time that Smith will be paid until April, allowing him to also keep his health insurance.
In addition, the small, tight-knit community has rallied around Smith and his family by organizing and participating in fundraisers. Firefighters from a dozen stations in Augusta County and childhood friends filed in to a spaghetti dinner held in his honor Saturday. Although, Smith was too fatigued from his latest round of chemotherapy to attend, the organizers were aiming for 600 attendees to raise $8,000.
Smith and his wife Jennifer just welcomed their baby Jillian Grace to the family in January. In addition to their two-month-old daughter, they are parents to three teenagers.
“He’s very upbeat and he says we’re going to fight it,” Smith’s mother Jackie May told WVIR-TV. ”We’re going to beat it, and he’s got the family support.”
Sources:
Scores attend fundraiser for cancer-stricken Stuarts Draft firefighter
Community Steps Up in Firefighter’s Fight Against Cancer