Benefit Held For Springs Firefighter With Lou Gehrig’s Disease

A man who helped save lives in Colorado Springs now needs help saving his own.

Firefighter Cary Sloan retired early after he recently found out he has Lou Gehrig’s disease, an incurable condition that causes muscular degeneration.

“He’s just one of the most kindhearted, nice people you’ve ever seen out there,” said firefighter Jeremy Kroto.

Sloan, a father and a grandfather, spent 29 years helping protect the Springs community. He was on the high-angle rescue and wildland teams, and also a player on the fire department’s hockey team. Friends said his diagnosis came out of nowhere.

“It just happened over the last few months, very suddenly,” said Kroto.

Firefighter and hockey team member Todd Heffner had the idea to organize a benefit to help with Sloan’s medical costs. Firefighters and their families packed the upper bar at Jack Quinn’s on Wednesday for a concert and silent auction.

“It’s devastating news, and they’re getting through it,” said Heffner of Sloan’s family. “I think it’s helping out that everybody’s kind of come together and rallied behind them and given them a lot of support.”

Sloan couldn’t be there because he wasn’t feeling well, but firefighters said he was humbled by the outreach.

“He never asked for anything and never would,”said Kroto. “So it’s important that we reach out to him and let him know that we’re here for him. Just because he’s no longer on the job, he’s still a member of our fire family.”

This weekend, April 28-29, the Annual Gator Hockey Tournament will be played in honor of Sloan. The CSFD teams will face off against the Colorado Springs Police Department team at the Honnen Arena on the Colorado College campus. Admission is free.