Spring Fire Senior Captain’s Cancer Story Goes Viral

By Hannah Falcon

A Facebook video of Spring Fire Senior Captain Matt Corso’s triumph over cancer sparks a national dialogue about firefighter health screenings. Early detection saves lives as news organizations such as KPRC-TV, KRIV-TV and KTRH NewsRadio 740 have reported in recent days.

“Cancer’s been around forever, but we really didn’t think about it in the fire service until really just the last few years,” Chief Scott Seifert told Channel 2 Newsmakers host Khambrel Marshall. “It’s now become a national initiative to really focus on the firefighters’ cancer.”

As concern for the health of firefighters and other first responders rises, the Spring Fire Department is leading the way providing annual LifeScan Wellness health screenings among other cancer-prevention tactics.

Firefighters work around carcinogens every day, as FOX 26 Morning News anchor Sally MacDonald discussed live with Corso and Seifert. However, too many do not show symptoms until cancer is advanced and harder to eradicate.

“I went in for [my health screening] that morning and I had no symptoms, no problems, I was a healthy 33 year old male,” Corso said on KTRH NewsRadio.

As host Jimmy Barrett and news anchor Shara Fryer discussed with Corso, many men avoid health screenings.

Spring Fire’s health screenings and Corso firsthand experience have created a national dialogue advocating for preventative health care for first responders.

Watch Corso’s story here:

“I was afraid of the information myself,” Corso said on KTRH. “Thankfully I got the information when I did and early detection is the key to surviving this stuff so you have to get your screenings.”

Hannah Falcon is a sophomore Communication major at Texas A&M University. A Staff Writer and Life & Arts Editor for the Texas A&M Battalion, Falcon is spending the summer as a volunteer writer for Spring Fire Community News.