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Cory Eberz said that his favorite aspect of volunteering as a Millvale firefighter is that it allows him to witness the borough’s sense of community.

“Here in Millvale, it’s such a small town that if something happens, if anyone needs anything in general, everyone is so close,” he said.

Now that Eberz, 19, has colon cancer, community members are offering him their support. Millvale Borough and the Millvale Volunteer Fire Department will host a spaghetti fundraiser, with proceeds going toward offsetting Eberz’s medical expenses not covered by insurance. The event is scheduled from 2 to 6 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Millvale Community Center.

Karl Cavanaugh, fire department chief and borough public works employee, said his son Cory first expressed an interest in firefighting around the age of 3.

“He was always constantly asking questions about everything at the fire station,” Cavanaugh said, “and then we always had to drive by the fire station every night when we were out, so that he could tell the fire trucks good night.”

“Whenever I turned 14, I joined as fast as I could, and I have been there ever since,” Eberz said of enrolling as a junior firefighter. When he turned 18, he completed Allegheny County Police and Fire Academy training to become a firefighter.

Cavanaugh was pleased to have Eberz following in his footsteps.

“It was pretty awesome seeing him learn what I learned, just being out there with him and knowing that we were doing it together and having fun.”

Since becoming a firefighter, he has had heat exhaustion twice — once from overexerting himself during a training session and another time fighting the Millvale Studios building fire on North Avenue in June.

“You can’t just sit there. The motivation is just if anyone needs saving just to help and if that’s not the case, you are going to try to keep everything as well-protected as possible, whether it be the other buildings around it or other people’s lives,” he said.

A doctor diagnosed Eberz with colon cancer on Aug. 31.

“As soon as everybody calmed down, the first thing that went through my head was, ‘OK, I have cancer, but what can we do to get the ball rolling to get this cleared up?’” he said.

He underwent a total colectomy, or the surgical removal of his colon, on Sept. 7 and has another surgery scheduled for Oct. 20. In the meantime, a home health nurse is visiting him twice weekly. If everything goes as planned, he shouldn’t need additional treatments, aside from follow-up screenings, Eberz said.

His goal is to return to volunteering as a firefighter. Oftentimes, one can still find him spending time at the station.

“It gets me out of the house and it keeps me fighting … because it got to me, but I looked at it as, I’m not just fighting for myself, but I’m fighting for everybody else.”

The Shaler Area graduate is on medical leave from his job at the Ross Target. He receives medical benefits through his mother Janice Eberz’s employer, but said they face accumulating expenses not covered by insurance.

He is incredibly moved by those organizing the fundraiser. “I’m so appreciative of it, but I just have no idea how to repay them, or like, how to show them how thankful I am. Even people who donated the baskets (to raffle), you know, they didn’t even think twice.”

Erica Cebzanov is a Tribune-Review contributor.