Corona battalion fire chief gets surprise cheering section for his final cancer treatment
By Julie Sharp
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CORONA, California (KCAL/KCBS) — Applause and cheers roared, along with some tears, as Corona Fire Department Battalion Chief Brandon Willson completed his final cancer treatment in Irvine Thursday morning.
The 42-year-old chief was met with a surprise “clap-in” as he showed up at the City of Hope Orange County Lennar Cancer Center for his final chemotherapy treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“Being in the fire service, it’s just like everyone else, you never think it’s going to happen to you, you know. And my number was picked July 3, is when they told me,” Willson said.
More than 50 uniformed firefighters from Corona, Huntington Beach, OC Fire Authority and other departments were there to celebrate and cheer, as his cancer is in remission.
Willson’s victory comes as National Cancer Survivors Month is underway. His physician, Dr. Tanya Siddiqi, City of Hope, said cancer treatment has come a long way.
“We have come so far in the last decade even in treatments for lymphomas and many other cancers. We found immunotherapies to work even better than chemotherapy, they are tolerated better, they’re more curative, we’ve come up with gene therapy, CAR-T cells … there is so much stuff we’ve done in the last 10 years,” Siddiqi said.
Willson’s wife and two sons were with him as he received hugs, high-fives and fist pumps from his fire family.
“It just reminded me that although this, the fire service, is a very special thing, in that moment of learning my diagnosis, it didn’t really mean anything to me anymore. It was just my family. It’s all I cared about in the moment,” Willson said.
In a March Instagram post, Huntington Beach firefighters expressed support for Willson.
“Your Huntington Beach Firefighters stand in solidarity and support Corona Fire Department Battalion Chief Brandon Willson in his fight against cancer. BC Willson started his fire service career as an Ambulance Operator with the Huntington Beach Fire Department.”
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