Gil Pohl is many things to many people. To the city of Albuquerque he is a firefighter and all that this entails, to his kids he is dad, and to his friends he is a brave man fighting terminal cancer and all he wants to do is take his kids to Disneyland. So the good firefighters in Albuquerque going to work on making that happen. They have scheduled a Texas Hold Em tournament for October 26th to help raise money for Gil Pohl’s dream.

Gil Pohl has been battling cancer on his own and only recently revealed he had Stage 4 cancer to some of his closest friends and coworkers.

“He was trying to keep it  from us,” explained his lieutenant, Bryan Pacheco. “He didn’t want to trouble  us.”

Pacheco found out a few  weeks ago. He said Pohl was getting off of work, and mentioned he was on his way  to the doctor’s office to undergo tests. That’s when Pohl learned his cancer is  in stage four.

“We found out that he’s  terminal,” Pacheco said.

Pohl was told at that doctor’s appointment he had about two years to live.

As firefighters are known to do they want to rally around one of their own and help, but Pohl does not ask for anything or even help with a ride to the doctor’s office.

But one day, Pohl said he always wanted to take his kids to  Disneyland. And Pohl is known to help others out. Once, Pohl offered his share of the firefighters union survivor’s fund for firefighters battling  disease or injuries to a younger firefighter recovering  from a brain tumor. On another day, when he learned of a fellow firefighter’s father passing away Pohl pulled out his wallet and handed the guy all the cash he had and said he hoped it would get him there.

Now, Pacheco and the rest  of the department are kicking off a fundraising effort to make Pohl’s dying wish  come true.

“We want to make some  memories for these kids,” Pacheco said. “They’re very young, you know. We want  to make some memories for them. They’re not going to have a dad in two  years.”

Photo Credit: Albuquerque Area Fire Fighters

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Tara (409 Posts)

Whether Tara is helping people make a memory with a trip to Disney (or anywhere else for that matter)  or she is helping to write all the news and gossip to keep you in the know!  She also has a brand new facebook page for even more tidbits on Disney and travel, so visit her at Magical Memories and the Mouse.