Orange County (Fla.) firefighter and 1990 Wayland High School graduate Stephen “Shakey” Vanravenswaay, who was diagnosed nearly a year ago with Stage IV pancreatic cancer, has decided officially to retire from the job he says he loves.
Vanravenswaay, 43, has been with Orange County Fire Rescue for 20 years.With help from Orange County Fire Rescue members, Vanravenswaay’s family has raised money through the web site GoFundMe
“The camaraderie, there’s nothing like it,” Vanravenswaay said. “I’ve seen it from the outside, but I’ve never had the opportunity to receive it. And receiving it, I can’t say enough about these people. They are a family.”
He announced his retirement Monday on Facebook, saying, “Tomorrow I retire, not real happy, but I realize it’s for the best. I hope that I put a lot of young firefighters on the right track and people think I did my job good and I was a good firefighter. Thanks everybody for being part of my life.”
The diagnosis has been difficult for Vanravenswaay; his wife, Lisa; and their two daughters, who are 15 and 18. But Vanravenswaay’s fellow firefighters have been a constant help, mowing his lawn, picking up his shifts and cooking the occasional dinner.
“I know not everybody gets this kind of support,” Vanravenswaay said. “Because, let’s face it, people have their own lives, and they have their own families. And there’s only so much they can do. And if the state was willing to step up, I think it would take a lot of burden off the families, as well as the Fire Department families.”
Vanravenswaay decided to become a firefighter after a stint with the Air Force in California. He spent two years with Volusia County Fire Rescue, then decided to move to a larger department. Orange County Fire Rescue was his first choice.Early on in his career, he got the nickname “Shakey” on a medical call, when his knee started shaking as he struggled to keep a restaurant cook who accidentally cut herself and fainted off the floor. Nobody in the Fire Department calls him anything else.
“I love the job, I love the people,” Vanravenswaay said. “If somebody asked me, would you [with] what I know now, would I join the Fire Department again? Absolutely.”
Lisa Vanravenswaay has taken a leave from her job with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office to take care of him.
To qualify for short-term disability, Vanravenswaay will have to stop swapping shifts and spend 90 days getting 13 percent of his regular salary. On short-term disability, he’ll get 40 percent to 60 percent of his regular pay.
(Some of the information for this article was taken from the Orlando Sentinel.)
