NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A retired FDNY firefighter and 9/11 responder with World Trade Center-related cancer has received some hopeful news.
While it's not 100% official, doctors might have found a match for a bone marrow transplant for Brian Kevan.
Kevin, who served with Engine 221 in Williamsburg, was forced to retire in 2020 due to his cancer diagnosis that resulted from work at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 and in the months after when he spent countless hours sifting through toxic rubble to find survivors.
Kevan, from Long Island, is optimistic and ready to fight after pushing through multiple rounds of treatment for an aggressive form of Large B Cell Diffuse Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a rare blood cancer.
Meanwhile, efforts continue to recruit more people to sign up with the bone marrow registry to become a donor.
"It's greater than me, it could be some little 4-year-old girl that's looking for a match to save her life or some 25-year-old guy that's got cancer, anybody," said Kevan. " If they've been looking for a match and there hasn't been a match, but we bring in 200, 300 people and that one person has been looking for a match finds a match, beyond me, that's amazing."
Over the next several days, Be the Match is hosting bone marrow drives in honor of Kevan with the FDNY and fire departments in Northport, West Islip, and Yonkers.
"For two decades, Firefighter Brian Kevan bravely served New Yorkers, risking his life day after day, battling fires, and saving lives," said FDNY Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro. "Now, he is the one in need of help as he bravely battles World Trade Center illness. I encourage everyone who is eligible to join the Be The Match registry and help us find a match for this heroic September 11th first responder."
Kevan is grateful for all the support he's received.
"It's overwhelming, I mean, the support for people coming plus the awareness. I don't think that a lot of people knew about going on a registry," Kevan said. "To know that I could sign up for something and now for the next 20, 30, 40 my blood is in a registry that over the next 40 years I could be match for somebody to save someone's life, it's pretty awesome."
FULL LIST OF DRIVES
Saturday, October 23rd from 11am-3pm (Marrow Drive)
East Northport Fire Department, 19th Avenue, East Northport, NY 11731
Monday, October 25th from 2pm-8pm (Blood and Marrow Drive)
West Islip Fire Department, 309 Union Boulevard, West Islip, NY
Tuesday, October 26th from 11am-7pm (Marrow Drive)
FDNY EMS Academy Drive, Building 325, 325 Pratt Avenue, Fort Totten, NY 11359
Wednesday, October 27th from 11am-4pm (Marrow Drive)
Brooklyn Commons Park @ Metrotech, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Thursday, October 28th from 12pm-7pm (Marrow Drive)
Yonkers Fire Department Rescue 1, 5 New School Street, Yonkers, NY 10701