COON RAPIDS, Minn. — Behind the walls of Coon Rapids Fire Station 1, there's an emergency call to action involving one of their own.
"This was unexpected," said firefighter Christian Worby.
But not all that alarming for Worby, as he watched his friends and colleagues shave their heads to match his in a makeshift barbershop that was set up in his honor.
"It means a lot, yeah. Like these guys obviously care about me," said Worby.
Worby is about to undergo a stem cell transplant in hopes of treating a rare form of blood cancer.
"It was a bit of a shock; wasn't something we were ever going to be prepared for," said Worby's wife, Colleen, as she watched her husband shave his supervisor's head.
"I was diagnosed in October of last year with multiple myeloma," explained Christian.
A disease we at KARE 11 have become all too familiar with, as our Boyd Huppert battles the exact same diagnosis.
"We see what your coworker Boyd is going through, so we've been paralleling that story, watching what he's going through and he's about a week ahead of Christian," said Battalion Chief Tim Gilsrud.
Those closest to Christian are learning to adapt.
"I wanted to shave my head before I went down to Rochester so that my kids would kind of get used to it for a couple of days before they saw me," said Christian.
"We're going to have to find our new norm and our new adjust as I'm kind of that solo parent at home for those six weeks," said Colleen.
"It'll definitely be a void without him. He makes us smile and laugh and we look forward to working with him," said Tim.
It's a buzzing bond, offering an escape even just for an evening, from the reality of what's ahead.
"They definitely can make each other smile and forget those tough things," said Colleen.
"I'm going to miss this job; I'm going to miss these guys," said Christian.
Christian will head to Mayo Clinic in Rochester as soon as he wraps up his shift Thursday morning, and will spend the next six weeks undergoing treatments.
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