Police Officers Donate Sick Days to Fellow Officer Battling Stage 4 Cancer
Police officer Chris Kudla was already eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly to make sure that he could protect his community in the best possible, but he now had a second reason: to beat his diagnosis of stage 4 kidney cancer.
When Officer Kudla was diagnosed with cancer just a year after he started working with Riverside Police Department, he was determined to not let it affect his service.
He told his chief, Tom Weitzel, “Chief, I’m not stopping working.”
And he has kept his word.
In between multiple doctor’s appointments and chemotherapy treatments, he has shown up for work every day.
He soon ran into a predicament, however. Because he had only been working for the police department for over a year, he hadn’t yet accrued enough sick days to cover all of his doctor’s appointments.
“My chief’s reaction kind of right off the bat was alright, let’s see what we can do to help you out,” Kudla said.
Kudla’s fellow police officers offered to donate their own sick time to help out their brother.
“Anything that I could do to help him and his family, I want to help him out as much as I can,” Officer Joe Mahanna told CBS Chicago.
Chief Weitzel was astounded by the generosity that the other Riverside police officers have shown to Kudla.
It’s not just police officers that are donating their sick time to help Kudla out. Other city workers from Riverside Village Hall and Public Works have also stepped up to help Kudla make the appointments he needs to beat his cancer.
“He basically got over six months of time for him to use for his medical treatment,” Chief Weitzel said.
Kudla was extremely grateful. He said, “When someone gets in trouble, the way they step up and help each other out – it’s like nothing else.”
A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help the family offset the medical costs.
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