WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Firefighters fight fires, but they could be fighting cancer and not even know it.
Experts say 70 percent of line-of-duty deaths are caused by cancer, which is why the Williamsport Bureau of Fire is asking for donations to pay for cancer screenings for firefighters.
"I've spoken to hundreds, possibly, if not thousands of people, like in the past six months, contacting them, looking for help, 'How can we do this?' And to be honest with you, the person that has done an amazing amount of work is a 20-year-old young woman," said Stephen Yonkin, Williamsport firefighter/engineer.
That 20 year old is Taylor Chrisenberry, a junior at Lycoming College. Yonkin and fellow firefighter Tracey Harer came to her marketing class to spread the word about the need for donations for cancer screenings.
"Explaining to her the facts of how susceptible firefighters are to cancer and how frequently firefighters lose their life to cancer really resonated with Taylor, and she made it her personal mission to help us," said Yonkin.
"I saw an opportunity to connect the community to his cause, and that's the mission for Lift for Life—just connecting the community to the organization and shedding some light on their fundraiser," said Taylor Chrisenberry.
Chrisenberry created Lift for Life, a powerlifting event, to help the firefighters raise money. So far, 28 people have signed up, but Chrisenberry would like more people to participate.
"Which is amazing because we were worried about getting the bare minimum of eight that we needed, so we're just really grateful for all of the interest in the community, and we're really excited for it," said Chrisenberry.
So far, the Williamsport Bureau of Fire raised $18,000 out of their $65,000 goal. Testing kits are $1,000 each. They want to test current and former firefighters.
"It tests preventively for five cancers. This one will test up to 50 different cancers, and with those cancers, it's an early detection—like a stage 1 which then will—by that being done so early, the survivability rate, I think, is 83%," said Tracey Harer, president of Union 736 Williamsport Bureau of Fire.
The powerlifting fundraiser is set for Saturday, April 6, at 8 a.m. at Lumber Capital Athletics in Williamsport.
If you'd like to register for the event, click here.