AL Fire Chief on Cancer Diagnosis: 'It's a Shock'

An Alabama fire chief said "(i)t was a shock" when he found out he was suffering from kidney cancer at a conference in Texas last year.

Mobile Fire-Rescue Chief Mark Sealy, who recently revealed his diagnosis, told WKRG-TV that he discovered he had a mass on his kidney during a full-body ultrasound demonstration at a fire chiefs conference last summer. Once he was back home, Sealy was diagnosed with early-stage kidney cancer.

"Cancer is prevalent, but it is always someone else," he told the TV station. "It is really is a shock."

The cancer, however, was caught early, and the mass was removed without Sealy needing chemotherapy or radiation treatment. The chief now has established a new cancer-prevention department policy requiring firefighters to clean their gear before they leave a fire scene, according to WKRG.