Answering the call: Swab tests key to saving FDNY firefighter with 9/11-related illness

Brian Kevan, of Bethpage, has been battling lymphoma for more than two years. He became a firefighter in 1999 and worked out of Fire Company 221 in Williamsburg.

News 12 Staff

Oct 9, 2021, 4:53 PM

Updated 1,097 days ago

Share:

A FDNY firefighter who worked at Ground Zero is hoping a bone marrow donor will be able to save his life.
Doctors say Brian Kevan developed lymphoma after spending four months breathing in toxic dust during the search and recovery effort at Ground Zero.
“You didn't know who was still in the pile,” he told News 12. “You didn't know who was buried there. So you just did what you had to do, showed up the next day to do it all over again.”
Kevan, 52, became a firefighter in 1999 and worked out of Fire Company 221 in Williamsburg.
Participants in Saturday's event took a swab test at the Bethpage Firehouse. Though they might not be a match for Kevan, people taking the swab test could be a match for someone in need across the country.
“My fight is not just for me, it’s for them, for their families,” said Kevan.
Timothy Remsen took a swab test and put his name on the "Be The Match" registry because his father battled a similar cancer.
“…I was too young to do anything so I couldn’t help out. I felt a need to finally step in and do something,” said Remsen.
Two more donor drives will be held for Kevan in the coming weeks – one in Commack and the other in East Northport.