First responders surprise Washington County firefighter ringing the bell after brain cancer treatment

WASHINGTON, Pa. (KDKA) — There was a special celebration in Washington County on Tuesday as a firefighter completed treatment for brain cancer.

Normally a ringing bell is a call to action for a firefighter, but for Ryan Johnston from McDonald, it was a call to celebrate after completing radiation treatment at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Washington.

Johnston was diagnosed with brain cancer after having a seizure, something rare for a healthy 30-year-old man. 

"This turned our family completely upside down. We were just — we understood the seizure, but then when we found out about the tumor and stuff like that, and it being cancer and everything, it just took the floor from underneath our feet," said his dad Greg Johnston. 

He then went through surgery, followed by 33 radiation appointments, once per day, Monday through Friday.

"Ryan was a dream patient. He always came in super optimistic. He was polite. He really kind of attacked his treatment, did everything we asked of him to be successful," said Steve Mandish, a radiation oncologist at UPMC Washington. 

Dozens of people — family, friends, hospital staff and fellow firefighters — lined the halls to congratulate Johnston after his final treatment. And then a fleet of at least a dozen fire trucks from 11 different fire companies lined up outside UPMC Washington, waiting to escort their triumphant brother home. 

"He's rapidly become part of our family," said Philip Boggs with the McDonald Volunteer Fire Department. "We were all pretty shocked when we heard what had happened, you know, with the seizure that started everything, the diagnosis. Talking with his family and everything all the other fire departments in the area, there was nothing that we couldn't — we had to do something for Ryan because we know at the drop of a pin, he would be there for us at any given time."  

The next step for Johnston is chemotherapy, and doctors say his prognosis is good. 

"Obviously today was pretty amazing. Just having that support group makes any treatment easier, so it's great for him," Mandish said.