“I was happy to see everybody in uniform. I saw the Chief from the Fire Department and got to talk to him,” grins 20-year-old Juan Jose Torres, a patient at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica who received some surprise visitors. “I had a tumor of 14 centimeters on my left shoulder, where my humerus had osteosarcoma. They removed all of the tumor and 16 centimeters of my bone because it was bone cancer. They replaced it with titanium steel, as well as part of my rotator cuff. I’m in therapy right now, trying to get movement back while getting chemotherapy. It was great seeing the fire department. I fell in love with being a firefighter, and it’s a passion I developed in high school when I was in the Fire Science Academy. I’m very grateful to UCLA Health. They’re trying to get me home for Christmas.”
