County Rallies to Support Firefighter With Brain Cancer

UPPER MARLBORO, MD — Firefighters and Prince George’s County residents are banding together to help a 14-year department veteran trying to defeat brain cancer.

Lt. Chris Hill was diagnosed with cancer in December 2014 after he experienced headaches and loss of coordination while at work. Doctors at Georgetown Hospital found that he had a stage IV glioblastoma brain tumor, and he underwent emergency surgery that night. Over the next 11 months Hill completed nine months of chemotherapy and 30 radiation treatments.

After his last round of treatment, Hill’s MRI was clear and his doctors said he was in remission.

“The family was elated that this last 11 months of struggle was finally behind them and things were finally looking up. That sense of hope was shattered two weeks later when, during a routine scan, the doctors found that Chris’s cancer had returned and was much more aggressive this time,” the department shared on its blog.

He had another surgery to remove the cancer and is again recuperating.

His wife, Jen, posted online Tuesday that “Chris and myself are blown away by the love and support you have shown our family. It is amazing how quickly a community can come together to support their own. So, please know every cent, every kind word answers every message of support makes our lives and our childrens’ lives a little brighter. Xoxo.”

The couple has two children, Evan, 5, and Amy, 9.

Fellow firefighter Russell Poe and his wife, Lisa, have set up an online fundraising page for the Hill family on the YouCaring website. All donations will be given to the Hills, the site says. The target is to raise $200,000; as of Tuesday, $16,259 had been donated.

Jen Hill said her husband’s neurosurgeon has suggested a new diet for Chris that shows promise as a way to suppress tumor growth.

“Essentially a modified Atkins diet. Chris is not exactly the “diet” type but he likes the idea of lots of bacon!!,” she wrote on the YouCaring site. “I’ll be sure to update periodically how things (in) our world are going. Happy Holidays!”

This form of cancer has been directly linked to firefighting; the median survival rate is two to three years. With Hill’s cancer having already returned less than a year after his initial diagnosis, he likely has less time, supporters say.

“We feel it is more important than ever to pull together as a firefighter community and do everything we can for Chris and his family,” Poe wrote. “Please consider making a donation to help him and his family.”

You can donate to the Hill family here.

»Photo of Chris Hill family, from YouCaring website, with permission of Prince George’s County Fire Department