Norman Firefighter Survives Tough Fight, Beats Cancer

Norman firefighter Levi Wilkins climbs mountains, runs marathons, and fights fires.

But a year ago, he faced his toughest challenge yet.

When we spoke with Levi last August, it was just days after his diagnosis of stage 4 renal cancer.

"I told my wife, this is not dissimilar from climbing a mountain, you know there's a large chunk of suffering ahead of you, you accept that, and you move into it," Wilkins said in August of 2019.

But four rounds of chemotherapy followed, and suddenly that mountain peak seemed unreachable.

"It was as hard as I've ever fought, and that includes times on big mountains, alone, in snowstorms, with no supplies, travelling over glaciers. This was harder than that," Wilkins said.

But unlike those mountains, Levi was not alone. He's a father, a husband. He's been married to his wife Emily for 11 years.

"He's a very strong person mentally, so I knew he had the mental capacity to push through," Emily Wilkins said.

His fellow firefighters backed him as well, setting up a GoFundMe for the Wilkins family, watching their kids in between treatments in Houston.

 "They say it takes a village to raise a kid, well it takes about ten villages to overcome cancer," Wilkins said.

And Levi did. After surgery to remove a kidney along with a grapefruit-sized tumor, Levi's cancer was declared in remission. He was back to work in May.

He said the fight has taught him an important lesson.

"You only have a certain number of days on this earth, and you really might as well use them well."

Levi would also like to call attention to fellow firefighter Matt Hart. His wife is battling cancer now, and a GoFundMe page has been set up.