Chad's Story

I met my wife Amy Shieder in 1997 and after 6 months of dating I knew she was the one and asked her to marry me. We were married in 1998 and just celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary. Soon after we were married, we knew we wanted to start a family. After months of trying naturally and ultimately 17 failed IFV attempts we decided to stop trying. Amy having been adopted at birth herself, we decided that would be the new path we would pursue.

During this time I took this opportunity to start building a career that would allow me to better provide for my family so I joined the Fire Academy. I did this while working a full time construction job to make ends meet.

I had just graduated from the Fire Academy and was finishing up with EMT/Paramedic Training when I applied to Jacksonville Fire & Rescue. I was waiting to hear back from them when my story took a turn.

While working at my construction job, I felt a pop in my chest followed by severe pain….after a trip to the ER, several tests and x-rays later and with my wife by my side; the doctors told me I had cancer.

I had stage 2 Non Lymphoma Hodgkin’s and it turned out the timing of my work injury brought it to their attention earlier than we would have typically known. As fate would have it, I received my acceptance letter from JFRD shortly after my diagnoses and had to decline.

After chemo and radiation I was happy to report that I was in full remission, all while continuing to work full time and provide for my family’s goals.

Just prior to my diagnosis we had met a young lady and we were finishing up the adoption of our first son Christian. About six years later we were blessed with adopting our second son Talon, also from the same birth mother. It was a year after that we adopted our daughter Brighton. Things were going well and life was good!

This brings us to 2020 – My job was making changes and my position was being dissolved.

It turned out this was the push we needed to start a new conversation about our lives. Over the previous 10 years the heat and humidity in Florida had been brutal on my body and I physically could not take it any longer. My oldest was now 20 years old and suggested moving and honestly there was nothing holding us back.

We visited Colorado Springs and fell in love with its beauty and weather and immediately began the process of selling our house and starting our new chapter. I got a sales job in May and things were looking up again!

During the 2000 mile move and getting settled I noticed that I was having some trouble out of my right arm. I was honestly too busy building our new life that I brushed it off as my rotator cuff acting up.

It was during the Christmas holiday, we noticed my arm was swollen. I figured my time was running out and I needed to go get the rotator cuff surgery I had been putting off. I found a new orthopedic surgeon and scheduled an appointment for one week later. By the time I got to that appointment, I was having trouble with my left arm and left leg but thought it was unrelated.

A few scans and MRI’s later and it was confirmed……The cancer was back.

I was diagnosed with stage 4 Lymphoma. The doctor said it was the worst case that Rocky Mountain Cancer Center had ever seen. They told me my body, organs and bones were 95% affected and I was lucky to be alive.

They started treatment immediately but unfortunately this time it has greatly affected my way of life. I had just finished training at my new job and was about to hit the ground running but was unable to work this time. I am six month into treatment and the cancer has greatly affected my body this time and has left me unable to work for the time being.

As of 8/3/22 I have shown great improvement but still have 3 spots showing up we are still working on.

Having just relocated, being unable to work and still waiting to hear back regarding benefits, every day things are getting increasingly difficult to cover.

I feel blessed to be alive and will continue to fight. I have a beautiful family and three amazing kids I am still watching grow. I will not give up!

On behalf of myself, my wife Amy, our son Christian (21), our son Talan (15) and our daughter Brighton (13), we appreciate your time in reading our story and would appreciate any and all help during this difficult time.

Our Sincerest Thank You,

The Craig Family