September is a heavy month for the Roanoke Rapids Fire Department. Every September marks Lymphoma and Suicide Awareness Month. The department is painfully aware of both.
Battalion Chief Kevin Hawkins was a firefighter for decades. He was also a family man, a diehard Tar Heel fan, and the best chef in the firehouse, according to Roanoke Rapids Fire Chief Richard Cook.
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"I don't know how many different ways to say 'a true leader,' but he really was," Cook said.
Cook and Hawkins started working at the department on the same day in 1999. They were each named battalion chiefs around the same time.
In 2018, Hawkins started having some health challenges. He went to see a doctor because his lymph nodes were swollen. He figured he had some sort of infection. He was later diagnosed with mantle cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
"His percentage of actually beating it was very low," Cook said. "It was like a 10% chance. He stayed with us. He was determined. He was going to come back to work. He was going to beat it."
Cook said Hawkins treated his cancer battle like his firefighting career. He fought courageously.
Hawkins died about a year and a half after he was first diagnosed. Now every September, the department goes green-lime green, to be exact.
Lime green is the color of lymphoma awareness. Cook wears a bright lime green polo. The firefighters wear T-shirts, accented with the color.
The outfits got another accessory this year. They all wear special bracelets now, highlighting suicide awareness. They're also meant to honor a brother.
Engineer Patrick Pegram died by suicide in April. Cook was one of the last people to talk to him.
"He was normal Patrick," Cook said. "He was in a pleasant mood...He was always witty. He has his own little way of seeing the world and is always entertaining to talk to."
Pegram was a really good firefighter, loved his family and music, and was fun to be around, according to Cook. Pegram died a day after their final conversation. His death came less than a year after Cook was named fire chief.
"I came in and really did not know what the next step was," Cook said. "Didn't know what to do [or] where to turn. I could see the department was hurting, but I really didn't know what the next steps were."
His next steps came after talking with a member of the North Carolina First Responder Peer Support Team. It's a nonprofit that helps support firefighters and other emergency responders in times of crisis. Cook said members of the team talked with the department and briefed them on what to expect in their grief. They stayed for a couple of days and returned for Pegram's funeral.
"I encouraged the guys to please talk about those feelings," Cook said. "Talk to the people. Take advantage of the people that were there to talk to us."
"If we had not been as aggressive as we were calling the peer support network, like we did, I wonder if we would be doing as well as we are. We still miss. I mean, we still miss Chief Hawkins. I don't imagine that'll ever go away," Cook continued.
The support team is already making plans to return to the firehouse on the one-year mark of Pegram's death, according to Cook.
Studies show suicide rates among firefighters are at least 38% higher than the average person. WRAL Investigates has reported for years about the increased cancer risk that firefighters face as part of their job.
When Hawkins died in 2019, his type of cancer was not considered an occupational cancer. That changed several years later as more research showed the link between non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and firefighting. Cook said there's no way to defintiviely prove Hawkins died from occupational cancer, but he believes it's very likely.
Each time a firefighter puts on one of the green shirts or one of the special bracelets, it's an opportunity to spark a conversation. Each of those conversations helps keep Hawkins and Pegram's names alive and to share the realities firefighters face.
"We're in the business of helping people," Cook said. "We want to help people any kind of way we can help."
The special attire is just part of raising awareness. Groups all over the state and country are chipping in.
- The chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) society is hosting a virtual 5k at the end of September. Anyone from anywhere can participate and help raise funds for cancer research.
- The North Carolina Firefighters Fund raises money to help volunteer fire departments get first responders screened for cancer. The funds also support them in many other ways.
- The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services just unveiled new signage promoting 988, the national crisis hotline. It's free for anyone to use if they need help.