By Nick Bonham
The Pueblo Chieftain
PUEBLO, Colo. — William and Janis Pine were sitting on their couch one day, Oct. 4, 2006, to be exact, when their lives changed forever.
Billy, as he’s known by his fellow firefighters, had finished a day’s worth of paramedic training. His wife, then a licensed practical nurse, was taking college classes to be a registered nurse.
She was working on math homework and summoned her husband closer for some help. He rolled over onto his stomach and bang.
Billy Pine’s intestine erupted. A tumor had burst.
His grandfather once was diagnosed with colon cancer, but it went into remission. Couldn’t be that -- not cancer, was everyone’s thought. He can’t have cancer at 27. He’s got a new wife and 6-month-old daughter, Sydney. He’s on the path to a promising career with the City of Pueblo’s Fire Department, too.
This can’t happen to the lovable firehouse prankster or “The Savant,” as he’s also called for his uncanny ability to recite movie lines and random trivia.
But the next day, Oct. 5, doctors at Parkview Medical Center removed a portion of Billy Pine’s colon. On Oct. 6, he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.
“It’s probably one of the saddest things this fire department has had to deal with in a long time,” said co-worker Joey Gutierrez, one of many Pueblo firefighters who have stood by the Pines for almost two years, answering the family’s every call and need.
Instead of celebrating Billy’s 29th birthday which was July 3 or the Pine’s four-year wedding anniversary which is today,Gutierrez and Janis Pine finished funeral arrangements over the weekend.
They know any day could be the Yuma native’s last.
Billy Pine’s conditioned worsened, so on Sunday that he had to be taken to a local hospital. On Saturday, while combating a fire on 27th Street, Gutierrez and fellow firefighters returned to their station to find numerous missed calls on their cell phones from Janis Pine.
“We had thought Billy died,” Gutierrez said. “He can go any day.”
For Sydney and Janis
At 2 years old, it’s hard for Sydney to understand Daddy’s situation.
“Sydney was 6 months old when Bill was diagnosed. I think she’s more fazed by the fact when she sees me upset,” Janis Pine said. “I have my days when I break and freak out. I try not to do that in front of Sydney. But I do have my days.”
The 27-year-old was sitting outside the South Side home they’ve lived in for almost three years, watching Sydney water the grass Daddy’s firefighting friends helped plant, along with the rest of the front yard landscape.
After intense chemotherapy and surgeries, watching sand fall through the hourglass, her husband’s 6-foot-1-inch, 210-pound frame shrinking to around 135 pounds, Janis Pine’s not ready to say goodbye.
Since they met -- at a lunch date through mutual friends that Janis Pine says was an unintentional introduction -- the two have been inseparable.
“We did everything together . . . I don’t think I’ll ever be ready” to say goodbye, the Fremont County native said. “I don’t think anyone can be prepared for that.”
And afterward?
“I have no idea. Just working. Explaining things to Sydney.”
Billy Pine has stayed as active as possible in Sydney’s life.
Knowing she won’t have the opportunity to get to know him, Pine wanted his daughter to have a promising future. That said, fellow firefighters again came to the rescue and opened a college trust fund for her. Having raised more than $5,000 to cover funeral expenses, Pueblo firefighters now are raising money for his daughter.
Donations may be made to the Sydney Pine account at any Security Services Federal Credit Union branch.
Copyright 2008 The Pueblo Chieftain