APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Appleton is taking its first steps to honor the final wishes of one of its fallen police officers.
The Appleton police and fire departments partnered with the HunterSeven Foundation to provide cancer screenings to veteran employees. This comes after the death of an Appleton police officer and veteran last fall.
Dominic Hall died in September from pancreatic cancer, which was attributed to toxic exposure he experienced during his time in the military. One of his final wishes was to raise awareness surrounding toxic exposure and veterans’ cancer diagnoses.
Appleton took a first step to honor that wish on Monday by providing cancer screening blood tests to 13 veterans serving the city as police officers or firefighters.
“Today is one of the first steps in honoring one of Dom’s final wishes,” said veteran Keegan Murphy before quoting his fallen friend. “‘If through my suffering, I can raise awareness to toxic exposures from overseas and can save another family and give their children another day with their dad, I’m happy to suffer. If not me, then who?’ Dom Hall.”
Murphy has been a firefighter with Appleton for the past 10 years. Two weeks after Hall’s funeral, he was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer.
He is one of over 520,000 post-9/11 veterans who have been diagnosed with cancer.
Of the 14.2 million veterans who fought the global war on terror after 9/11, 5,433 died in combat. Nearly 20 times that amount have died from cancer since 2001, according to data from the HunterSeven Foundation.
“To all the veterans here today,” said Murphy, “not only did you raise your hands and volunteer to serve your country, each one of you has decided to continue your lives serving the community as either a police officer or firefighter in the City of Appleton.”
Between the fire and police departments, Appleton employs roughly 45 veterans.
“Our veterans have been, in their service, exposed potentially to things that might contribute to cancer later in their lives,” said Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford. “So, the sacrifice they made serving our country didn’t end with their service in the armed forces.”
The hope with the prescreening tests is to identify cancer sooner, so that treatment may begin earlier. Additionally, early detection leads to more targeted treatment, which often leads to better outcomes.
