THE NEWSPAPER OF AVONDALE, BUCKEYE, GOODYEAR, LITCHFIELD PARK & TOLLESON
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westvalleyview.com
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS .............. 8 Weber named Buckeye’s water resources director
SPORTS ........ 20 Estrella Foothills pitcher commits to University of Kansas
9 DAYS ......... 22 Looking for something to do? Check out the 9 Days a Week calendar
LETTERS ........................13 BUSINESS..................... 15 SPORTS ..........................19 FEATURES .....................23 NEIGHBORHOOD......26 YOUTH ...........................28 OBITUARIES .................29 CLASSIFIEDS................30 NORTH
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The Voice of the West Valley for 33 years
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June 13, 2018
Insurance battles continue for area firefighters By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
Editor’s Note: After the West Valley View ran a profile about Goodyear firefighter Gilbert Aguirre and his battle with leukemia, a number of colleagues nationwide shared their stories, including his coworker, Austin Peck. Austin Peck always wanted to be a firefighter. He was sociable as a student at Cave Creek’s Cactus Shadows High School, about the same time his uncle, then a Glendale fire chief, introduced him to the occupation. “Not to boast, but I was really physical,” said Peck, a Goodyear firefighter. “I’ve been a helpful person my whole life, so it made sense to become a firefighter. “I love the medical side of it. I love playing with fire, kicking in doors, and hanging out with a group of people with the same attitude. The vibe of eating dinner at a fire station is worth the job.” These days, however, the 33-year-old Peck is spending time having chemotherapy for sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma, abbreviated SNUC, a rare, aggressive disease in the lining of the sinuses or nose. Peck said he is one of only 400 people who have had the cancer. Although there isn’t a lot of research on the cancer, doctors told Peck his disease is from the carcinogens he was exposed to while fighting fires. Peck was diagnosed in November 2015 after his nose felt swollen, as if it was broken, and he headed to the doctor. He was given an 18-percent chance to live six months.
Austin and Erin Peck traveled to California so he could seek treatment for sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma. Their daughters, Marley and Harper, stayed with his parents so they could attend school. Austin Peck is a Goodyear firefighter. (Photo courtesy Austin Peck)
“At the time, I was boxing. I thought it was just a broken nose,” he said. “I just let it go, but it started to get bigger. I thought I had to check that out. Then I started to get really bad headaches. I went to an ear, nose and throat doctor in Phoenix. He looked up there with a camera and instantly said there was a tumor in my nose. It was devastating.” Just after Christmas, he and his wife, Erin, left their daughters, Marley and Harper, with his parents so the kids could finish school while they moved to California for treatment. The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla of-
fered proton beam radiation that Phoenix’s Mayo Clinic only now possesses. Since then, Peck’s condition has reoccurred when treatment stopped after PET scans were clear. He can no longer have radiation because he met his lifetime limit. “When this started, I obviously took disability in November 2015,” Peck said. “I did six months of that, had a clear scan and went back on light-duty status. I worked in the admin office for 40 hours a week. I was diagnosed again and went on disability.
Peck...continued on page 3
Goodyear council approves rec campus master plan By Connor Dziawura
Goodyear’s long-awaited recreation campus is coming to fruition, with the city council recently approving its master plan. The project has entered the scoping and costing phase, which is anticipated to take three to four months. The culmination of a lengthy outreach process that began last fall, the Goodyear
Recreation Campus Master Plan incorporated input from residents, stakeholders and city staff. “We have this great master plan that is very much supported by the community as well as city council,” explained Nathan Torres, Goodyear’s Parks and Recreation director.
The 86-acre recreation campus will consist of a 30-acre community park, a 50acre city park, a recreation center and an aquatics facility. Split into two phases, the first – and current – phase will focus on the 30-acre community park, recreation center
Campus...continued on page 7