A Flower Mound firefighter has died from cancer at the age of 33.
The death of G. Wade Cannon was announced by the Flower Mound Fire Department in a Sunday morning Facebook post.
“The Flower Mound Fire Department is saddened by the loss of Firefighter/Paramedic G. Wade Cannon. Firefighter Cannon passed away last night after a valiant battle with occupational colon cancer,” the post said. “Firefighter Cannon was 33 years old and served the town of Flower Mound for 6.5 years. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.”
“In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be made in Wade’s name to organizations that were near and dear to him during their cancer battle. Please consider donating to the Brent Lewis Bridges Foundation and Michael’s Memories.”
Cannon’s wife Chelsea shared the news, saying, “The love of my life, my best friend, my everything went to be with the Lord yesterday. I am so proud of Wade for fighting with everything he had until the very end.”
“He battled two brutal years of chemo treatments and clinical trials, yet he stayed positive and passionate about life through it all,” she said. “He soaked up every good day, every good moment, every good minute, and every good second God gave him on this earth. He inspired me every single day.”
Captain Tim Mackling, president of the Flower Mound Professional Firefighters Association described Cannon as a “very energetic young man just starting out his career in fire service.”
“His fighting attitude kicked in. He and Chelsea got right into the trenches and started fighting for his life,” said Mackling.
Cannon’s procession and funeral will be held on Friday, October 7.
The fire department shared that the procession will begin at 9:30 a.m. from Mulkey-Mason funeral home and will travel to The Village Church, where the funeral will be held at 11:00 a.m.
The Dallas Express previously reported that a longtime Fort Worth firefighter died of occupational brain cancer.
David Greene, 56, died on Monday, September 19, according to the Fort Worth Fire Department.
Cancer caused 66% of career firefighter line-of-duty deaths from 2002 to 2019, according to data from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF)
According to research from the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH), firefighters have a 9% higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% higher risk of dying from it.
It should be a law only FIRESTOPPER can be used to fight fires. It’s safe, non-toxic, non-carcinogenic.
RIP Wade Cannon