Retired Richmond fire marshal David Creasy wasn’t among the firefighters from across Virginia who packed a Senate committee meeting Tuesday.
But Creasy, who died in October after more than four years of battling cancer, was well represented in the annual legislative battle to extend workers’ compensation benefits automatically to firefighters and other first responders stricken by certain forms of cancer they say are caused by exposure to toxic chemicals in the line of duty.
“This year, he’s not here, so I’m here to speak for him,” said his widow, Martha Creasy, who described the couple’s daunting efforts to pay for treatment of cancer that began in his colon.
Colon cancer is among three forms of the disease that would be presumed eligible for workers’ compensation under Senate Bill 1030, proposed by Sen. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake. The bill also adds cancer of the brain and testicles to the list of diseases presumed eligible for compensation under the program.
The Finance Committee ultimately approved the bill on a 14-2 vote that was much closer than it looked.