Mike Merlino always knew he had a supportive community backing him up.
When he stepped out of his pickup truck at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on Tuesday, however, even he was surprised at what he saw.
“To see all those people there, I did what anybody else would do and started crying,” Merlino said.
He opened his door to a crowd of hundreds of friends, family members and first responders who came to show their support for Merlino in his ongoing battle against cancer.
Merlino is a 30-year veteran of local fire departments, including Douglas County Fire District No. 2, Winston-Dillard Fire District and Sutherlin Fire Department, where he currently works as a battalion chief. In Janurary, he was diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid cancer, a rare and aggressive disease.