NSW bushfires: Hero RFS volunteer with cancer still battling fires
Volunteer firefighter hero Ryan Channells who was back on the frontline a day after receiving a stage-four melanoma diagnosis, has been left overwhelmed by the support he has received following today’s Daily Telegraph article.
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Firefighter Ryan Channells, whose bravery is “what defines Australia”, has been left “overwhelmed” by the generosity of strangers after his story was published on The Daily Telegraph.
More than $10,500 has been raised on the GoFundMe page that was set up by Mr Channells’ family, with $4000 donated since the article was published this morning.
“We are so grateful and want to thank everyone so much. It has been amazing and Ryan is a wonderful person. He does not have a nasty bone in his body and we love him,” Mr Channells’ older sister Angela said.
“We just needed to get him through this and writing the story has helped with his journey.”
Alicia Powell who donated wrote: “I am on a Sydney train reading The Daily Telegraph and I am in tears. My aunt and uncle live in Telegraph Point near Wauchope and have directly benefited from Ryan’s selfless work.”
“Be strong and courageous Ryan: God is with you in your battle.”
Another donor Jenni Sullivan added: “I read about you in the paper today. What an incredibly brave and unselfish man you are.
“Good luck with this next fight and Merry Christmas to you and your family.”
The Prime Minister urged Australians to rally behind the 42-year-old father of two, who is a volunteer with the Wauchope Rural Fire Service brigade in the state’s mid-north coast, after The Daily Telegraph relayed the volunteer firefighter’s extraordinary effort to save homes just a day after receiving a devastating diagnosis of stage four metastatic melanoma.
Mr Channells was more concerned about saving the homes of other residents than his own situation in horror fire conditions last month.
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“It was the catastrophic Tuesday and we were driving from Beechwood through Comboyne to Upper Lansdowne and there was fire on both sides of the road,” Mr Channells said.
“We were tasked with property protection and some of the houses we were able to save, but there were other properties that were lost in the fires.”
Even after his days-long stint battling a horror blazes that consumed hundreds of homes across the state, Mr Channells didn’t rest, instead going back to his job at the council to repair damaged roads.
“I was fixing some of the roads from things like potholes and shovelling a tonne of cement a day. It just helped keep my mind off things and I prefer to help other people,” he told The Daily Telegraph from his Sydney hospital bed where he is now receiving treatment.
The father of Toby, 2, and Skye, three months, remains humble and credits his wife as the “real hero”.
“My partner Charlie is amazing. She looks after kids who are under the age of two and I only fight firestorms,” Mr Channells said.
The real health battle for the heroic firey starts now as he begins treatment in Sydney. Because Mr Channells is the breadwinner for the family, his treatment is expected to put a financial strain on the family.
Ms Channells described her brother as a “hero” and said: “Ryan is the first to put his hand up to help when he is able if someone is in trouble and he needs our help this time.
“We are so proud of him and even at one point I remember ringing him and he was in the fire truck on his way back and that’s just the person he is. Putting up his hand if someone is
in trouble.”
Mr Morrison paid tribute to the humble hero and said Mr Channells’ “bravery and selflessness” is “what defines Australia”.
“For a bloke who’s given so much to our community, I hope Australians are going to rally behind Ryan and his family as they go through this tough time,” he said.
“There are so many Australians like Ryan who go above and beyond even in the most difficult circumstances. It’s special to see one of those moving stories up in lights.”
Senior Deputy Captain of Wauchope RFS Stuart Jose, who has known Mr Channells for years, said brigade members weren’t aware of his diagnosis until the fundraising page was created by his family.
“That’s the type of person Ryan is, he wouldn’t tell anyone about his problems.
“Just earlier this week he was still attending the training sessions and callouts,” Mr Jose said.
NSW Police Minister and Emergency services David Elliott added: “Every firefighter who puts their life on the line to protect others is owed a debt we can never repay.
“Ryan has gone above and beyond the call of duty, showing a level of courage and sacrifice that is rare in this day and age.”
Originally published as NSW bushfires: Hero RFS volunteer with cancer still battling fires