Lexington Fire Department rallies behind firefighter battling cancer

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Lexington Firefighter Brian Riesenberg was recently diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer.

During this time, he says he’s humbled by the amount of support he has from his second family.

However, “firefighter” is not Riesenberg’s first title.

“Military always felt right for me and I decided to follow my passion and do it,” said Riesenberg.

Riesenberg served in the Marine Corps for four years. When he got out in 2020, he says he decided to join the Kentucky National Guard.

“I loved being a Marine. I thought it was just time for me to get out, and then I missed the camaraderie and brotherhood that I had,” said Riesenberg.

So, that’s how he ended up at the fire department and it hasn’t been long. Riesenberg’s recruit class graduated in April.

“I just wanted to help people to the best of my ability,” Riesenberg said.

Just a few weeks after he was officially on the job, he got some pretty tough news.

“I was coming off the back of the fire academy in the best shape of my life, and I was feeling great. Then, this just kind of cut the legs out from under me,” said Riesenberg.

At just 27 years old, Riesenberg learned that he had stage 3 testicular cancer.

“It also has moved upwards through my body, so I have a 13-centimeter tumor in my abdomen and some enlarged lymph nodes in my chest,” said Riesenberg. “Through some chemotherapy, we’ve been able to get a lot of that down.”

“We all come together just like a family,” said District Chief Brian Dawson.

Dawson says while Riesenberg gets better, he and the more than 600 people in the department are doing everything they can to help.

“He has 620 brothers and sisters at this point who are stepping up and covering his shifts for him,” said Dawson. “This is just an extension of what we do for the normal citizens of Lexington every day.”

“It’s been very humbling, and I’m very grateful for it,” said Riesenberg.

Dawson says during the recruitment process, Riesenberg was in elite status beating everyone in the physical tests.

“He jokes to them now, he goes, ‘I beat you guys, and I had cancer!’ So, it was shocking at first,” said Dawson.

It’s his hard work and perseverance that Riesenberg said will help him through this hard time.

“I think it’s keeping me pretty positive and keeping me in the fight,” said Riesenberg. “I definitely just want to get through this and get back to my job and back to my crew.”

Overall, Riesenberg says he’s feeling good. He’s just dealing with fatigue at times.

An online fundraiser for him has already raised over $11,000 for Riesenberg’s medical expenses.