Local

Gastonia firefighter speaks out after suffering aneurysm while fighting fire

Gastonia firefighter Loren Ward is recovering at Carolinas Medical Center after he suffered an aneurysm while fighting a fire Saturday night.

Ward spoke to Channel 9 Wednesday from his hospital bed, where he explained the moments leading up to an aneurysm.

He said he had just come out from the apartment that was on fire on Pineview Lane, and was about to go back in to fight the fire, but instead he got dizzy and fell.

"I remember getting off the truck,” Ward said.

The veteran Gastonia firefighter responded to a call of an apartment fire Saturday.

Firefighters launched their first attack on the fire and made their way out.

"We were working our way back inside and I was getting ready to call command on my radio and let them know, and I don't remember nothing after that except they're rolling me on a stretcher to the ambulance,” Ward said.

Ward suffered an aneurysm -- a ruptured blood vessel in his brain.

It was a result of a pre-existing condition.

Ward's mother said he complained of headaches before the spell.

Saundra Ward insisted on a head scan.

"I said, ‘Are you going to do one?’ They said, ‘Yeah, we can.’ And I said, ‘I wish you would,' and that's when they found the aneurysm."

Ward’s surgeon said without the scan, he could have had a second spell.

"The likelihood that it will rupture again very quickly with the first few days is very high and second ruptures are almost always fatal,” said neurosurgeon Dr. Scott Wait.

The discovery gave him a fighting chance at making a full recovery.

"It could have been a lot different. Luckily, the cards fell into place,” Ward said.

Ward's motivation to recover has been fueled by support from firefighters in and around Gaston County.>

"If we need anything, they get it here,” said Brandy Ward, Loren Ward's wife. “They have been here for him the whole time."

(Gastonia firefighter Loren Ward talks to Channel 9 after recovering from 

aneurysm

)

Ward is already looking forward to returning to his job, but his doctor said he is still not completely in the clear and that his progress will be monitored day to day.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com: