‘... Pretty shocking ...’
YPG assistant fire chief in need of life-saving bone marrow transplant
U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground Assistant Fire Chief Daniel Manning is in need of a life-saving bone marrow transplant, but there’s been some difficulty in locating a matching donor.
A veteran, husband and father of three, Manning was diagnosed with Myelofibrosis – a rare form of bone marrow cancer that disrupts the body’s blood cell production, according to Mayo Clinic – in December. The ensuing months have consisted of frequent travel to Phoenix for doctor’s appointments and treatments, rounds of chemotherapy infusions and a number of questions still awaiting answers.
According to Manning, it’s believed that the diagnosis is occupation-related, stemming from 25 years of exposure to carcinogens and industrial chemicals like benzene and toluene in the fire service.
“It was pretty shocking, 25 years of taking care of the public and others and now needing help (myself),” Manning said. “I was in denial. Just in the last month I’ve started accepting the fact that this is something I’m dealing with.”
In a 2018 study housed in the National Library of Medicine, researchers found fire service members to be at a “markedly elevated” risk of cancer compared with the general population. Wipe samples collected from firefighters’ skin, personal protective equipment, offices, fire station and engines contained “potent” carcinogens and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) – described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a class of chemicals produced when coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage and tobacco are burned. According to Manning’s hematologists and his own research, absorption of
these chemicals create a mutation in one’s blood cells.
“They made it clear that there is a 30% greater chance for firefighters in the field to get some type of cancer, as of 2020,” Manning said. “So, one-third of us. It goes to show, what exactly is doing it specifically, other than what we do every day, the gear that we wear (and) the jet fuel? There are a lot of questions that I don’t have answers for.”
According to U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground
Fire Department Chief Jerry Ball, these factors have placed “a lot more awareness on what could be the long term ramifications of being exposed to different types of contaminants,” contributing to the implementation of more stringent protocols across the department.
“Cancer is a very prevalent thing in the fire service,” he said. “And it’s become more prevalent in, I would say, the last 10 years. They’ve started to see these increases...and they’ve started to address those issues with breathing apparatus and different types of protective equipment and precautions. The way we do business has changed drastically within the last 10 years. We don’t do things we used to do without a breathing apparatus,
we decontaminate gear – every firefighter has two sets of structural gear that they wear, and if one becomes contaminated for some reason, they’re decontaminated quickly at the scene and given a clean set of gear until that (contaminated) set is laundered.”
Due to the rarity of his genotype, doctors have been unable to match Manning
with a donor for the bone marrow transplant he needs to rewrite his estimated 12- to 36-month prognosis.
“They sent out to see if there was a match, and there was no match nationwide,” Manning said.
Individuals interested in joining the Be The Match registry to determine whether they may be a viable donor can do so by visiting www.bethematch. org/support-the-cause/ donate-bone-marrow. Upon joining, they’ll receive a cheek swab kit by mail to provide a sample of their DNA and wait for a call informing them they are a patient’s best genetic match.
“If we can increase the awareness here in Yuma County and potentially increase the number of those submitting samples, then we have better odds of finding a donor for Chief Manning or someone else that may be in need,” said Ball.
Manning anticipates an April 28 trip to Phoenix for an appointment that, he hopes, will provide clearer insight on his true prognosis and treatment plan going forward. For now, he’s still doing his job with plans to continue as long as he’s physically able.
“I’ve been doing this for 25 years, I don’t want to give up on working,” he said. “There’s going to be a point where I’m going to have to make some hard decisions. When I have better answers, when it’s clearer and I have a better understanding of what the true prognosis is other than what’s being guessed at right now, then I think I can make better decisions on the path forward.”
To cover medical expenses, Manning’s family has organized a GoFundMe at www.gofundme. com/f/f2tzxw-danny-manning-cancer-treatment.