NAPANEE, Ontario — A 20-year-old volunteer firefighter continues to fight for her life after suffering a bleed in her brain.
The Napanee Guide reported that Jessica Boomhower, with the Dorland Station, was training at the Napanee Fire Station on June 25 when she began to complain that she wasn’t feeling well.
“Jessica was at the station when a call came in, and she was getting ready to respond,” Greater Napanee Fire Services Chief Terry Gervais said. “She felt ill as she was getting onto the truck, and a couple of firefighters helped her get into a chair and called EMS.”
Firefighter Boomhower was rushed to the hospital, where she was unconscious on arrival, according to the report.
“They transported her right to Kingston General Hospital, where she received emergency surgery on her brain for a brain injury,” Chief Gervais said.
Boomhower remains in the hospital and is making slow steps toward recovery.
An online fundraising campaign has raised nearly $4,500 for the family from 47 different donors.
Boomhower has been a member of Greater Napanee Fire Services for just over a year. She was planning to do her classification exam the night she collapsed, according to the report.
“She does a lot for the community,” Gervais said. “She is well-liked in the department, just one of those young ladies who walks into a room with such a smile to her, so positive. People gravitate to her. It’s been tough on the fire department for sure, tough on the guys who were with her, and tough on the family. There are lots of prayers this week.”
For more information, visit: www.gofundme.com/axl0ww or check out “Please Support the Boomhower Family” on Facebook to get involved.