YORK, Pa. - Freddie Kemfort joined the Army right out of high school and spent 11 years in the service. He completed three tours in Iraq and survived four IED explosions.
He has been a volunteer firefighter since he was 14. Zoey, 3, and MaKenzie, 1, are his daughters and his pride and joy. He just married their mother, Lindsey. They had to cancel their wedding, on October 3, to be married on June 17, by a Justice of the Peace because Freddie is battling cancer.
"He has renal clear cell carcinoma with sarcomatoid features which is a very aggressive cancer that metastasis to the rest of the body very quickly," said Lindsey.
Lindsey is working full time while taking care of the girls and Freddie.
"It's literally just changed everything. It's changed how we look at life. It's changed how we live our days and how we spend our time together," said Lindsey.
Freddie wanted to be out of the hospital for MaKenzie's first birthday. It was September 17 and was there. He also got to see her first steps, but around 3:30am Friday September 18, he was called to go back to the hospital. He is dealing with an infection on top of his cancer.
"They don't have an FDA approved treatment for his cancer yet. It has spread to his liver. Which is how we ended up Johns Hopkins," said Lindsey.
He is participating in a clinical trial. To take stress off of the Kemfort family and to show an appreciation for Freddie, members of his fire company, Yorkana, decided to throw a large fundraiser.
"This happens to a lot of people but to somebody who is a volunteer firefighter, was a veteran, who has given of the themselves so much that the community wants to give back to that person and support them," said Jennifer Hose from Yorkana Fire Company.
Over a thousand people attended the event. Chicken barbecues were donated by Central Penn and all 250 sold out in under an hour.
"It means less stress. We don't have to worry about where food is coming from, (the) roof over our house so, it means a lot," said Lindsey.
If you would like to donate to the family you can check out their gofundme page.