Ray LaVoie
After 30 years in fire service, Lieutenant Kevin McFarland never expected a simple blood draw would save his life.
But after the Violet Township Fire Department offered its personnel the Galleri test, which screens for more than 50 cancers, McFarland was diagnosed with stage 1 esophageal cancer, an illness usually found too late for effective treatment.
The early diagnosis allowed surgeons to completely remove the tumor, though the life-changing surgery prompted early retirement. Now, McFarland devotes his time to spreading awareness about cancer screening to fire departments nationwide.
Decades of service
Ray LaVoie
While he had planned on working for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives or the FBI after high school, McFarland fell in love with firefighting while volunteering in his hometown of Hebron during the summer following his freshman year of college.
“Once I took a couple runs, I knew it was what I wanted to do,” McFarland says, recalling how he was drawn to the adrenaline rush, the camaraderie and being able to help people.
He finished his degree in business administration at Otterbein University in the spring of 1998, but knew firefighting was his calling.
“The more I was around the fire service, the more I just wanted to be part of it,” McFarland says.
After attending the Ohio Fire Academy that same year, he applied to departments around central Ohio and ultimately found Violet Township was the best fit for him.
“I’d heard really good things about their department and that it’s one that where, if you got on it, you could easily spend a career there,” McFarland says. “It was someplace that was talked (about) very highly and just someplace you wanted to work.”
Kevin McFarland/Ray LaVoie
A lifesaving diagnosis
Come 2024, McFarland anticipated working another five years, and when his department offered the Galleri test, he barely gave it a thought. He was physically fit, had no family history of cancer and no symptoms.
Even after receiving his results, he initially wasn’t concerned.
“At first, I wasn’t even going to call the doctor,” McFarland says. “And then, the more I thought about it, I was like, ‘All right, probably ought to get this looked at.’”
An upper endoscopy confirmed esophageal cancer, but it was caught early enough to be treated surgically.
Despite being apprehensive about his future, he soon realized how fortunate he’d been.
“(The doctors) were like, ‘Hey, esophageal cancer has got a five percent or less survival rate because usually it’s caught late,’” McFarland says. “That’s when it really hit how this test really caught it and put us somewhere where we can get this early.”
Support through surgery
Kevin McFarland
McFarland and his crew on his last day
On Nov. 26, 2024, McFarland endured an 11-hour esophagectomy, which removed his lower esophagus.
He says the fire department was a significant support system, with chiefs and colleagues visiting him in the hospital.
“In the lobby with my wife over the course of those 11 hours was a rotating group of guys from (the department) that never left her side,” McFarland says. “The support Violet Township and everybody was giving me throughout this whole process has been amazing.”
Most of all, his wife, Mandy, and his twins, Cullen and Kylee, were key to his recovery at home.
“My wife was amazing. I think even when we got home, she had 19 alarms set on her phone to make sure I had my medication when I was supposed to have it,” McFarland says.
Within three months, he returned to work on Feb. 19, 2025.
Despite his best efforts, McFarland says reflux from the surgery made eating and drinking at work difficult, especially since he didn’t want to get sick in his breathing apparatus mask.
Recognizing that he couldn’t maintain his energy and unwilling to burden his team, he ultimately decided to retire.
“I gave it everything,” McFarland says. “I’m glad I did because I can say now, I’m leaving on my own terms, that cancer didn’t take it.”
Ray LaVoie
Continuing to save lives
Kevin McFarland
McFarland at the 2025 Fire Rescue International Conference with Amy McCormick, Grail's key account associate for first responders.
As he starts a new chapter, McFarland is focused on sharing his story. In addition to working with Grail, the company behind the Galleri test, and speaking at the Fire Rescue International Conference in August 2025, he’s also done webinars and podcasts, advocating for cancer screening for firefighters.
“The great thing about this test is it’s anonymous... If it comes back with something, and you go get tested, and you find out it was a false positive, then nobody needs to know,” McFarland says. “But then, if it does catch it early, it’s something that you can get fixed and hopefully get back to work.”
Since retiring, McFarland has enjoyed traveling, especially for his 25th wedding anniversary, and staying active with hiking and fishing, while continually emphasizing the significance of early cancer detection.
“I’m proof that catching it early is definitely life-changing, because if not, I could be really sick right now with no course of action,” McFarland says. “For all of the changes that came out of it, the best thing is we caught it early.”
Amanda Stevens is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
