Kaplan, La. - Brad David has lived in Kaplan his entire life. His love for thrill and giving back to the community, eventually landed him his dream job as a volunteer firefighter for the Kaplan Fire Department.
“You jump in one of these trucks and when you respond to a call your heart starts pumping, you get excited,” he said.
An avid runner, fires weren’t the only thing Brad was battling. In May 2023, Brad was diagnosed with an aggressive rare form of Leukemia.
“You know, I heard those words in May of 2023, ‘you have Leukemia and it was devastating. Especially for someone who took such good care of themself, I tried to be an athlete, and be a good firefighter and be in shape, I was devastated,” he told KATC.
Blazing through this fire, Brad came out winning. He beat cancer at the end of January 2024.
“Treatments were rough, I had to get 140 days of chemo where I was hooked up to a pump or port. I was also getting lumber pinches and both of those treatments caused side effects. It was very rough from July all the way through January of this year,” he said.
After a year of putting down his gear, he’s glad he’s able to put it back on.
As for what’s next, he says you can root for him at his next marathon. “I’ll be back running again, I’ll be back doing marathons and everyone around me has great faith in me that I will be back where I was,” he said.
