Uphill Battle: An Ex-Fire Chief's Fight To Stay Alive

JOSEPHINE, TX — Cameron Brooks's face is well known in the town of Josephine, which sits some 40 miles to Dallas' northeast. Having served as fire chief in the rural town for 15 years, Cameron, who goes by Cam, has interacted with nearly every resident of the town, be it through his duties as volunteer fire chief or one of the many annual events the department puts on for the town.

But since January 2018 his usual presence has been missing from the steel building on W. Hubbard Street that houses the fire department.

Cam was diagnosed with a serious liver condition only 10 days after Christmas and, in the four months since that date, everything has changed.

Foundations

Cam joined the fire department 15 years ago, when the department's meager equipment still sat in a shabby quonset hut. Since that time, and under his leadership, the department has grown to include some 23 volunteer firefighters, two brush trucks and a fire engine.

Cam, like the many other men and women who work for the Josephine VFD, wasn't paid for his duties with the department.

Patti Brooks, Cam's sister-in-law and Josephine's city secretary, has known Cam for more than 10 years.

She was already working for the city when he came on as the department's chief, long before the transformation that made the department what it is today.

"Cam turned this fire department around, got it reorganized, got the reputation back," Patti told Patch. "He was just a huge part of making this fire department what it is."

But Patti's story with Cam is more than a friendship formed at work. Ask any member of the Brooks family, and they can all tell the same story of the night Cam and his wife, Julie, introduced Patti to her now-husband, Andy.

Cam said his brother Andy was recently divorced when he got the idea to set him with Patti. So he and Julie met Patti and Andy at The Lone Star Roadhouse, a cafe and bar in Dallas, where they saw a live band.

"They hit it off real well," Cam told Patch. "The very first night, it was kind of like a set up because my brother was coming off a divorce. They hit it off that night and had a blast. Next thing I know, they were getting married not too long after that."

Patti's rendition of the story echoes that of Cam's.

"They took Andy and I out to see [a band at] The Lone Star," she said. "We went out with Cam and Julie, and the rest is history. But even before I met Andy, I always loved Cam."

It never mattered to Cam that he wasn't receiving a paycheck from the fire department, but he still had to make ends meet for his family.

So, through the years, Cam has worked for Collin County Animal Services and Julie for the local school district, Community ISD, as a bus monitor.

The Resignation

Cam resigned from the department only days before his eventual diagnosis but after months of watching his own health decline.

"Well before January, he was run down and didn't feel good and didn't want to do a lot of stuff," Julie said of Cam's health. "He'd rather just sit there and watch TV or hang around the house. I thought that was unusual."

His lethargy, they assumed, was a symptom of the type two diabetes he had been living with for years. But as his symptoms continued to worsen, he broke down and decided it was time to see a doctor.

"He started kind of changing," Julie said. "And finally, I believe it was Jan. 2 or 3, he said, 'okay you can call the doctor.' That's when it all started."

It was three days later that Cam learned he had a serious liver condition. The disease, Cam said, occurs randomly and causes the liver to fail and rot.

"It's pretty much just something that happened. Basically I pulled the short straw," he said.

Resigning from the department is not something Cam took lightly, and it's something he still seems to mourn.

In his interview with Patch, Cam specified, without being prompted, that, "I couldn't have asked for a better city [in which] to be a fire chief... I had to leave because of my health issues. I'm in real bad shape."

Not only did he leave behind his duties with the fire department, but he and Julie also moved away from Josephine entirely.

Cam said he knows a medical emergency can happen at any time, and he can't risk being taken to the wrong hospital in his condition.

Because he sees a specialty team of liver doctors in Richardson, he asked emergency responders in Josephine if they could take him to that specific hospital.

The ambulance service told Cam no, they could only take him to Hunt County Medical Center in Greenville.

So he and Julie made a preemptive move to live with their youngest daughter in Wylie, where ambulances can easily take him to Richardson.

Julie said the move has helped in more ways than one, and she now relies on the support of her daughter.

"I was really worried about us being by ourselves and everything," she said. "After the second [hospital stay], we went to our other daughter's for a while. That was a relief because there was somebody there to help me. Then we came [to Melanie's]. We have our own room. Cam can stay in there and watch TV; he can come in here and talk to the grandkids. He has a place to go and be alone if he needs to be."

Her daughter's support, Julie said, extends beyond physically helping care for Cam.

"It's been — I guess — a blessing to have her back me up any time I need the help — the support or whatever. Physically, mentally, emotionally — they're there. Our kids are awesome."

The Treatment

Cam visits regularly with his team of doctors, who are working now on securing his spot on a transplant list.

He has already undergone a psychological evaluation, but he still faces a series of tests he must undergo before he'll know if he has secured a spot on the waiting list.

In the meantime, he makes biweekly visits to have extra fluid drained from his abdomen. During his last visit, he said, doctors drained more than 18 pounds of excess fluid from his stomach.

He hopes to receive an affirmative answer about the transplant list by the end of April, but, even if the answer is yes, he'll have to wait for a compatible liver to come his way.

Once Cam receives his new liver, he'll be out of work for at least four months, Julie said. In that time, the Brooks family will be left to pay for insurance out of pocket in addition to covering other medical expenses.

That's why a friend of Cam created a GoFundMe page to help the family cover costs. (You can give to the GoFundMe page here.)

In the meantime, Julie is pleading for others to become organ donors.

"We really want people to know that donating your organs is amazing," she said. "I've been a donor for years."

Back Home

One of Cam and Julie's daughters lives in Josephine, and the couple visit her when they can. Julie said she often sees her daughter between shifts at the school. And while she's happy to see the friendly faces of Josephine, she said she isn't ready to visit the city hall or fire department where Cam once worked.

"We don't go back to the fire department or city hall because it hurts," Julie said, her voice cracking with emotion. "Yesterday I stopped at the store to get a drink and — I'm sorry — we miss everybody and it hurts because we know it's not ours anymore. It's not our reality anymore. The same people are there and hanging out on the sidewalks and stuff like that, but it doesn't feel the same."

Julie said she is doing her best to stay strong for Cam, even as illness shakes the family.

"I haven't broke down and cried like I feel like I need to. I feel like if I let myself do that, I'm partially giving up on him. And I'll never give up on him. Never... He's an awesome man."

Lead image via GoFundM