I was honored to by asked by my friend Diane Cotter to photograph the screening of a documentary titled "Burned” at the Hanover Theater on June 11th.
For those that don’t know the story I will post some links here that can explain the reason for the documentary better than I can.
The long and short of it is Diane’s husband, Paul Cotter was a Worcester Firefighter. Paul was diagnosed with cancer and forced to retire in 2014. They had no idea how he could have gotten it. Diane found it was caused by his protective gear meant to keep him safe.
I’ve known Paul for a very long time. As a young kid I would go down to the old Central Division firehouse and hang out. They treated me as one of their own. Inviting me for meals and even riding on Rescue 1 where Paul was assigned for a long time.
Although Diane and Paul’s fight was never easy they never gave up. After a while people started listening to what she had to say and her campaign started to gain traction.
Diane has partnered with Kathy Crosby Bell and Jason Burns of the Last Call Foundation to help spread the word on the dangerous chemicals found in firefighters gear.
https://spectrumnews1.com/ma/worcester/news/2020/06/25/wfd-turnout-gear
https://www.lastcallfoundation.org/pfas-initiative
https://dianecotter.medium.com/my-name-is-diane-cotter-my-husband-is-a-28-year-veteran-of-the-worcester-ma-fire-department-7747fd9e2026
https://www.menshealth.com/health/a37624731/cancer-firefighter-gear-pfas/
And Finally a link to the Burned website where you can watch the preview.
https://etherealfilms.org/burned/
For those that don’t know the story I will post some links here that can explain the reason for the documentary better than I can.
The long and short of it is Diane’s husband, Paul Cotter was a Worcester Firefighter. Paul was diagnosed with cancer and forced to retire in 2014. They had no idea how he could have gotten it. Diane found it was caused by his protective gear meant to keep him safe.
I’ve known Paul for a very long time. As a young kid I would go down to the old Central Division firehouse and hang out. They treated me as one of their own. Inviting me for meals and even riding on Rescue 1 where Paul was assigned for a long time.
Although Diane and Paul’s fight was never easy they never gave up. After a while people started listening to what she had to say and her campaign started to gain traction.
Diane has partnered with Kathy Crosby Bell and Jason Burns of the Last Call Foundation to help spread the word on the dangerous chemicals found in firefighters gear.
https://spectrumnews1.com/ma/worcester/news/2020/06/25/wfd-turnout-gear
https://www.lastcallfoundation.org/pfas-initiative
https://dianecotter.medium.com/my-name-is-diane-cotter-my-husband-is-a-28-year-veteran-of-the-worcester-ma-fire-department-7747fd9e2026
https://www.menshealth.com/health/a37624731/cancer-firefighter-gear-pfas/
And Finally a link to the Burned website where you can watch the preview.
https://etherealfilms.org/burned/
© Paul Shea Photography