ODESSA, Texas — Being a firefighter is a tough job. It takes the bravest and the brightest in the community.
"I'm a firefighter paramedic with Odessa Fire Rescue."
That’s no different with Odessa firefighter Josh White.
"He's also a hard worker," White's wife Kayla White said. "Tons of overtime to make sure that we were doing okay financially and everything else."
Josh isn’t just a fearless firefighter serving the City of Odessa, he’s also a husband and father.
"He's a fantastic father," Kayla said. "My kids love him to death."
But In April, the White family got devastating news.
"So I was on scene of a traffic accident," Josh said. "We were doing some work, I started having some pain just in my right lower quadrant. I didn't think anything at the time. As we finished off, we headed back to the station. I started having more pain, and with my training as a paramedic, I've realized that my appendix is probably either ruptured or I was having appendicitis. I let my captain know, and at that time, they sent me home, but I drove myself to the hospital."
"He called me that morning," Kayla said. "I knew something was off because usually when he's on shift, we don't talk to him until probably about 6 o'clock after dinner."
"We found out that I had appendiceal cancer," Josh said.
Josh’s diagnosis is one you don’t see every day.
"From what I was told in the beginning, 1% of people get it," Josh said. "My oncologist here said in the past seven years I believe he's seen three people."
Despite his diagnosis, Josh is still finding a way to do what he does best: help others.
"So, right now I'm not actively riding a fire truck or running an ambulance," Josh said. "I've been moved to the administrative side; helping out with training, putting on classes. I'm helping our paramedic classes with any questions they might have. I'm doing tutoring basically. So, I've just been helping out in that aspect."
And his work family… is helping him too.
"When you first get into this job, they'll tell you you've entered a brotherhood," Josh said. "It's not just where you're at. I've had people as far as Farmers Branch, Texas reach out to me, so once you're a part of that, once you put yourself as a firefighter, it's not just local, it's not just the department you're with, it's the whole industry as a whole."
And support hasn't just come from his fellow firefighters, but the entire community.
"That means so much for somebody just to give me," Josh said about all the donations he's received. "We live in an oilfield community. I don't expect anybody to give me $10,000. But just to give what they can, it just means the world to me."
"One of our medic students reached out to me and he was like, 'Hey, I created this page, and I want to try and help y'all raise the funds for that,'" Kayla said. "The Warbirds reached out, and next Saturday they want to do a 50/50 raffle to also help with the fundraising."
"And we had people like Jason Payne from Payne’s Gym, who owns Trinity Family Medicine, that have donated things," Kayla said. "We've had Great American Cookies, Chick-fil-A — I mean, there have been so many people here in town that have reached out to us to give us donations to be able to raffle off to pretty much anybody that wants to buy tickets. So, it's been amazing."
An entire community... rallying behind someone who's spent years rescuing others.
"So when I'm out there, I'm not fighting for my life," Josh said. "I'm fighting for somebody else's life. We go for a call, [...] in the back of our mind, we're going out there to help somebody. So we're gonna do whatever it takes to help that person. So that victim for us is first, but now that I'm on the other side of it, I'm glad that there's somebody there that's going to be that person for me too."
And the thing that stands out to Josh, is the community he loves, loving him right back.
"And the big thing is that both of us were born and raised here," Josh said. "So we know how strong this community is. And just now for that focus to be on you for just that brief second, just for everybody to send their focus towards you. It feels awesome to have this great community that it's going to have your back no matter what through, thick and thin. That's why I've stayed here. This is an awesome city, awesome community. You couldn't ask for better people in this town."
Just like fires, cancer is just another battle that Josh will fight... and with Josh’s track record… more than likely win.