Donation Fund Set Up for Ailing Kent Firefighter

Kent residents can donate to a benefit fund to help battling cancer.

has established the "Don Beckett Be Well Account" to help the Brimfield resident and 22-year Kent firefighter as he fights esophageal cancer.

Donations can be made at the Home Savings Bank branches in Kent, Ravenna and Brimfield.

Doctors diagnosed Beckett, 52, with a cancerous tumor in his esophagus in December. The esophagus does not have the ability to contain cancer cells, and it's too large to be removed by surgery.

So Beckett is undergoing intense chemotherapy and radiation treatments weekly Monday through Friday — in addition to oral chemotherapy — to try and shrink the tumor to the point it can be removed. He initially worked through the treatments. But the therapy weakened Beckett to the point he has had to take extended leave from his job with the fire department.

"The doctors feel that hitting this from two different approaches is the best and most aggressive way to treat it," Beckett said.

The fund was set up by a fellow Kent firefighter. Kent's safety personnel have come through big for Beckett before. In January, they arranged and covered the cost for Beckett and his wife of 28 years, Heidi, to travel to New Orleans to watch the Ohio State Buckeyes win the 2011 Sugar Bowl. Beckett, a big Buckeyes fan, had never seen the team play in person before.

The Home Savings Bank branches are located at: 4023 S.R. 43, Brimfield; 142 N. Water St., downtown Kent; and 100 E. Main St., Ravenna.