'WE HAVE TO SAVE OUR HEROES'

WHEN DIANE COTTER DISCOVERED HER HUSBAND PAUL'S CANCER WAS CAUSED BY HIS PROTECTIVE SUIT, SHE TOOK ACTION

-  JOHNNY DODD

In the months following Paul Cotter's 2014 prostate cancer diagnosis, his wife, Diane, watched helplessly as her once healthy and fit husband, a lieutenant with Massachusetts' Worcester Fire Department, spent his days wasting away in the recliner. "I couldn't get him out of that chair," says Diane, 63, of Paul, now 64. "He was literally leaving me physically and emotionally, and I couldn't do anything about it." Diane was convinced that Paul's cancer was the result of toxic smoke and gases he was exposed to because of a failure in the protective coat and pants-known as turnout gear-worn while battling fires. So one day she rummaged through his gear in the basement, inspecting it with his powerful flashlight, and made a startling discovery: "I saw all these quarter- and dime-size holes in the crotch area," she recalls. "I told myself, 'Holy cow, this is how all these chemicals got into his body."" Diane has since been on a quest to understand what could have contributed to her husband's diagnosis and also to explain what's behind the skyrocketing cancer rates among firefighters.