SAN FRANCISCO — A firefighter just days away from undergoing breast cancer surgery is being forced to return to work after the city of San Francisco denied her coworkers’ effort to donate their sick leave time to her.
Diamond Heights Firefighter Janette Neves Rivera, 44, has been on medical leave since June, according to KTVU.
Firefighter Rivera is due to return to work next week, days before she will have a double mastectomy.
“I’m scared,” she said. “I’m a tough, strong woman and this does scare me.”
Out of sick leave, she applied for San Francisco’s catastrophic illness program, which allows employees to donate and transfer sick leave time.
Firefighter Rivera told KTVU that 700 firefighters offered their sick leave to her so she could still be paid while she undergoes cancer treatments. She currently is chipping away at her savings to support herself and 3-year-old daughter.
The city denied her application for the program because her current condition was not considered “life-threatening.”
“That sent me into a tailspin” she said.
Although she plans to appeal the decision, Firefighter Rivera is still planning on working for a few days before her surgery to get a small pay check.
A spokesman from the San Francisco Department of Public Health declined to comment.