Frank Nunez Obituary, Death – Frank Nunez, 34, a firefighter and Crystal Lake resident died on January 22, 2023, after a long and courageous battle with terminal cancer. The Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois verified Frank Nunez’s death on Sunday. “The AFFI Family has had a difficult week.” “Our sincere condolences to his family and his local’s Brothers and Sisters,” the union said in a statement. Nunez began his final goodbyes in September from his hospital room at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
According to Northwestern Medicine Media Relations Manager Jill Edgeworth, Nunez sought medical care after suffering pain in his left leg and was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare form of soft tissue cancer, in 2019. After chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, he was cured. Nunez’s sickness returned to his left lung in 2021, according to Edgeworth, and he participated in many clinical trials. He continued to work at the Itasca Fire Protection District in DuPage County during his recuperation. Nunez enjoyed his job and had a good work ethic, according to his peers.
He started his career in 2014 and joined the Itasca Fire Protection District in 2018. Frank was in charge of fires, fire alarms, medical crises, and fire prevention and training. Edgeworth stated in September that he had recently finished a fire inspector training session before being admitted to Northwestern Memorial with terminal cancer in late September. Nunez’s coworkers never left his side during his most recent sickness, paying him several visits. Nunez couldn’t communicate in the hospital since he was intubated, so he had to rely on text messages and dry-erase boards.
Coworkers characterized Nunez as a warrior, an intellectual person, and a “wonderful human.” Nunez was regarded as a “phenomenal” person who would liven up the room by Dr. Khalilah Gates, a pulmonary and critical care expert who treated him. “To see his fellow firefighters in the room every day, especially since we’ve just emerged from an epidemic in which we were all on the frontlines reacting. And knowing that they have jeopardized their lives for the sake of others – Frank is one of them – “Gates made a remark.
Nunez proposed to his fiance, Christina, inside his hospital room on his 34th birthday in September. In June, they married and had a puppy named Max. Nunez was diagnosed with cancer in 2019, just two months after the pair met in Crystal Lake. Nunez recognized Christina as “the one” from the beginning of their relationship. According to Edgeworth, during Nunez’s hospitalization at Northwestern Memorial in September, her mother received a stem cell transplant for leukemia. His mother came to see him in the intensive care unit and they exchanged goodbye messages on the dry-erase board. Nunez was brought to his Crystal Lake home on hospice care by Itasca firefighters in the same ambulance he had used to evacuate victims in late September.
“There’s nothing more painful than losing a loved one, especially someone as young and vibrant as Frank.” It is, however, unfortunate “According to Itasca Fire Chief Jack Schneidwind. “It gives us tremendous joy to have the privilege of sending him home in this manner — and that is exactly what we and the volunteers are doing by accompanying him on this journey. As Nunez was being loaded into the ambulance, members of the Chicago Fire Department complimented him. Nunez arrived home with his coworkers, fiancée, and cat Max, who was eager to meet his best friend. Pink Heals, a non-profit organization, staged a fire engine parade through Nunez’s neighborhood in September to show their support. Over a dozen fire departments from Lake County, McHenry County, and other areas participated in the procession. The vehicles came to a halt in front of Nunez’s house, allowing him to mingle with other firefighters and sign a Pink Heals fire engine.