利比·坎宁安
The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
（MCT）
Jun. 27—JEFFERSONVILLE — It seems as if a photo of former Jeffersonville Fire Deputy Chief Bruce DeArk should be next to the word “determined” in the dictionary.
Loved ones say he worked hard to join the fire department, loved his family fervently and pushed to protect others from cancer during the fight of his life.
DeArk’s death from colon cancer is officially classified as a line of duty death at the state and federal level by the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation.
The cancer awareness advocate, father, husband, firefighter and all-around good friend died in February at 53, after a four-year battle with Stage Four colon cancer. The illness was likely attributed to his career as a firefighter.
他的妻子珍妮特·迪克（Janet Deark）说，他们本月初获得了指定的消息。她说，戴克（Deark）受到他的家人，同伴消防员和他服务的社区的喜爱。
“这是第一行责任死亡的杰夫ersonville Fire Department and I pray the last,” said Jeffersonville Fire Department Deputy Chief Jason Sharp.
他说，迪克的死改变了消防部门的做法。
“We changed a lot of our policies, our decontamination policies after fires; just because of all the carcinogens you get on your skin, they do a wash-down on the fire scenes,” he said. “What he went through had a huge impact on the way we conduct our business at the Jeffersonville fire department.”
A few days after Janet got word of the designation, his loved ones met for lunch at Harry’s Taphouse in downtown Jeffersonville to share memories about the avid Indiana University fan’s life and legacy.
His daughters Tori DeArk and Kayla DeArk Joly, son-in-law, Ethan Joly, and former colleagues were in attendance.
在Deark的战斗中，Tori和Kayla致力于向社区出售手镯，以抵消医疗费用。他们读了“布鲁斯的水桶旅”和“准备打架”。
戴克（Deark）在2019年告诉《新闻与论坛报》（News and Tribune），当他看到人们不知道戴上手镯时，它可能会拖着他的心脏。
“布鲁斯喜欢成为一名消防员，所以人们不知道他试图在该部门任职10年，”前杰斐逊维尔消防局局长埃里克·赫德里克（Eric Hedrick）在哈利（Harry）的Taphouse聚会上说。“我不知道您会尝试做多少次。但是10次，十年是很长的时间。”
珍妮特·迪克（Janet Deark）说，前杰斐逊维尔（Jeffersonville）人力资源局长西西·埃利斯（Cissy Ellis）在布鲁斯（Bruce）申请工作期间第一手的决心。她说，埃利斯（Ellis）是布鲁斯·迪克（Bruce Deark）的大力支持，也是朋友。
Hedrick said they served together as chief and deputy chief for more than eight years. The pair grew up together. But aside from being a firefighter, Hedrick said Bruce DeArk’s main role was that of dad.
“Bruce’s number one priority was being a dad, absolutely, to these two girls,” he said, referencing his daughters who were at the table.
The application to classify Bruce DeArk’s death was submitted to the state about two months ago. It consisted of more than 3,000 pages of medical records. They came from health care workers at Clark Memorial Health, Norton Healthcare, the University of Louisville, Tennessee Oncology and BluMine Health.
惠特尼·琼斯（Whitney Jones）博士，詹姆斯·克里普斯（James Cripps）博士和埃里克·雅泽尔（Eric Yazel）博士的来信被包括在文档中。
Dr. Yazel, Clark County’s Health Director and the new head of Indiana’s statewide EMS, said he was the supervising physician for the nurse practitioner who diagnosed Bruce DeArk.
Janet DeArk worked with him at the Clark County Health Department.
Yazel说：“我认为这显然是责任死亡。”“我为这个决定表示赞赏。这是一个决定，可以挽救印第安纳州的生命。”
For his part of the application, Dr. Yazel sent a letter outlining Bruce DeArk’s condition.
他说，他记得布鲁斯·迪克（Bruce Deark）在父亲去世并向他赠送特殊礼物后与他共度时光。
他说：“他正处于一生中最大的战斗中，他仍然花时间思考我，并为我做了。”“这是我永远不会忘记的事情之一。”
Bruce DeArk’s story is also inspiring others statewide to get their colonoscopy’s early, Dr. Yazel said.
其中包括12年的杰斐逊维尔消防局老将乔什·汤普森（Josh Thompson），他还在午餐时加入了家人。
“A month ago I had my first ever colonoscopy,” he said. “Something I probably put off longer than I should have, but there’s a good reason to get it.”
他说，他认为美国所有的消防员都应该参加考试。
官方公务死亡称号意味着Janet, Kayla and Tori will be given additional benefits from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. It also means Bruce will be honored at the National Firefighter’s Memorial Weekend next May.
在他去世之前，迪克（Deark）的使命是教育人们有关结肠癌的知识，并鼓励他们照顾他们的健康。
他在2019年告诉《新闻与论坛报》，他听说该地区被诊断出患有癌症的消防员，但直到他这样做之前，它才会与他袭来。
“You read about them and say, ‘Man, it’s sad, it’s really sad.’ When it hits home, it’s a little different feeling. I think [my diagnosis] made people realize if it can happen here, it can happen anywhere,” he said in 2019.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety, firefighters face a 9% increase in cancer diagnoses and a 14% increase in cancer-related deaths, compared to the general population.
DeArk’s legacy lives on. Just last week Janet DeArk said that The Colon Cancer Prevention Project named The Bruce DeArk First Responder Cancer Education Program in his name. The group is currently scheduling first responder trainings across Southern Indiana and Kentucky.
该家庭在诊断时与本地组织有联系。胃肠病学家惠特尼·琼斯（Whitney Jones）博士于2018年在迪克（Deark）的筹款活动中发表讲话。
Janet DeArk said she thanks Executive Director Amanda Smart, sister of Jeffersonville Fire Department Firefighter Josh Smart, and former JFD Local 558 President Joe Hurt for their support. She said Hurt’s work with the International Association of Firefighters at a state and federal level helped shape life-saving measures at the fire department.
“I could not be more thankful to Joe Hurt, who at, literally, moment one, had Bruce’s back and has had every other firefighter’s back, JFD and otherwise, in regards to doing what is best for our first responders,” she told the News and Tribune.
Janet DeArk and Jeffersonville Fire Chaplain Jeremy Neff looked back on the love friends and the community showed for Bruce at the lunch.
他们回忆起一年一度的露营旅行和在一起度过的时间。他们还提到了家庭享受的全力以赴的足球竞争。
Bruce DeArk, an ardent Indiana University Fan, received a FaceTime from Neff before he passed away. It was from an IU game and featured the school’s band.
普渡大学的粉丝珍妮特·迪克（Janet Deark）说，比赛日总是在他们的房子里有趣。她对布鲁斯，家庭和保持其遗产活着的决心的热爱是显而易见的。
“A lot of banter, obviously a lot of banter,” she said. “There was one time I found every Purdue shirt I could, we have four big dogs, I put a Purdue T-shirt on all the dogs. It was just constant banter.”
She said when Bruce came home from the hospital, Neff worked with another friend to make sure the Purdue flag hanging at their house was replaced with an IU flag.
“We get back, I’m in there distracting and they’re hanging the flag,” Neff said.
Janet said the family continued its tradition of visiting Patoka Lake this June, in DeArk’s honor.
她说：“这是我们第一次没有布鲁斯，我想我们要去了，因为我们知道他要我们去。”“我们认为我们可能会在那里找到他。”
She said the family took lake trips with friends as part of a tradition. Bruce’s favorite part about them was the food and large meals they’d all share together.
她说：“他只是一个完整的球，他用嘴里的东西从袖口上射出。”“没有人像他一样。”
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