Golder Ranch firefighter shares battle with cancer

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Every day someone in the world is diagnosed with cancer. For firefighters who put themselves in harm's way just to keep us safe, it's a statistic many are having to take home with them.

KGUN 9's Denelle Confair spoke with one father and son with the Golder Ranch Fire District. The father is battling stage four cancer and in spite of it all he remains positive leaning on his faith all while continuing to help others.

"I thought he must be talking to somebody else," Gary Schobel said. " When my doctor diagnosed me with stage four cancer."

When Schobel was diagnosed with Metastatic Prostate Cancer in June, he was told he'd been living with it for the past two years.

"Kind of a crazy journey just because, you know, it's it's one of those things that you think you know, other people not me, not my family," Ryan Schobel said. "And so it was kind of a shell shock. At the beginning to just hear that not only is someone going through this at Golder Ranch, but it's my father."

Gary's son Ryan joined Golder Ranch Fire with the hopes of stepping into his dad's boots.

"16 years separating us he's two years on, I've been on for 18 years. And right away, we did have this discussion as Sunday," Gary Schobel said. "You think you should...you should maybe think of another career. But again, through our faith, we feel that we're right where we're supposed to be."

As an active healthy man, Gary says the news of cancer was a bit of a shock to him and his family.

"I've seen him as a firefighter, he got on in 2005 and so I was just in, you know, in grade school and so to see him step out of that, that's kind of the first time in my adult life to see him step out of those roles," Ryan Schobel said. "As a cyclist and as a firefighter. And so that was the hardest thing for me just to watch...his physicality change."

Gary's been put on light duty after five rounds of radiation, he plans on starting chemo soon.

While his role at the fire department might change, he will forever have some great memories with his son.

"I would tell the patient, oh, well you'll be in good hands," Schobel said. "This here's Ryan, he's gonna take you to the hospital. And how do I know that? Because this is my son."

It's a father-son bond so strong, even cancer won't get in the way.

"We'll be over the hill, it will be on the other side. You know, you'll be in remission and, you know, I'm so excited," Schobel said. "But I can't I can't wait for it to come here. But I know. Once we get here, once we get there, you know, it'll feel like it was just such a such a quick ride."

Gary says he's confident he'll be able to battle his cancer and hopes sharing his story will encourage others to get checked.