Not His Fight - Our Fight!

Andy Karl is a husband. He is a father. He is a friend. And as a professional firefighter, he is a true hero. Toward the end of July 2023, Andy was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. And so now we'd like to add another title to his list - cancer survivor.

Andy is an avid athlete. While training he became tired and short of breath. Thinking little of it he tried to continue his training routine but quickly realized that something was different. Something was wrong. A couple of trips to his doctor along with a myriad of blood tests confirmed the worst.

Now mind you Andy Karl is no pushover. He is in incredible physical condition and his attitude is positive and absolute. But there's one aspect of this whole ordeal that cannot be ignored; we cannot be certain how long Andy will be forced to stay off the job. Health insurance will help to pay many of the bills but sick leave will no doubt be exhausted and there's a potential that fiscal stresses may arise.

We, his Fire Department family, have recognized that this is NOT just his fight. It is our fight. Firefighting is a team effort and this sort of act of helping others comes naturally. It is exactly what Andy would do if the roles were reversed and it is why we are rising to this occasion.

Won't you please help the International Association of Firefighters Local 3138, Rockledge Professional Firefighters in taking care of our brother firefighter?

It's Not His Fight - It's Ours!