Jeff Fosburg poses outside the Mossyrock Fire Department for a photo in October.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A potentially fatal form of pneumonia has struck an otherwise healthy 28-year-old volunteer firefighter from Mossyrock.
Jeff Fosburg, a bachelor with a St. Bernard as a roommate was fine until he suddenly took ill early last month, according to his father.
“He was getting a cold,” Mossyrock Fire Chief Doug Fosburg said of his grown son. “It went from just a cold on a Friday afternoon, to being in ICU at Providence on Tuesday.”
That was Dec. 9.
Doctors found the younger Fosburg had contracted MRSA pneumonia in both lungs. The MRSA bacteria is the strain which is resistant to most antibiotics, his father said.
They don’t know how he caught it, but he works at the Lucky Eagle Casino as a security guard, and is around a lot of people, the chief said.
Jeff was transferred to a Vancouver hospital, and then shortly after to a Portland hospital equipped to deal with the unusual illness. It’s only the sixth or seventh case of this type they’ve ever treated, he said.
He’s improving Chief Fosburg said this morning, but isn’t expected to be well enough to go home for two to three months, he said.
“He’s getting better, but he’s still on a ventilator, and still at Legacy,” Fosburg said. “If he hadn’t have been as healthy as he was, he probably wouldn’t have survived it.”
It’s going to be a long road to recovery, even after he’s released, he said.
One of his co-workers at the Mossyrock Fire Department has set up an account to assist with paying Jeff’s ongoing household bills while he is not working.
Jeff has health insurance, but his neighboring firefighters in Salkum are putting together a benefit to raise money, as it could be as long as six months before he’s able to work, according to Byron Peck, president of the Salkum Volunteer Firefighter and EMS Association.
Chief Fosburg said he understands that is aimed at helping out with excess health care costs.
Salkum firefighters say that any donations for their silent auction can be brought to their main station on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. until Feb. 5. That’s at 2490 U.S. Highway 12 in Salkum.
The auction and spaghetti dinner fundraiser will be held at the same location, on Saturday Feb. 7, from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
He is such a great man and his family gives so much to Mossyrock. Prayers to him and his family.
Wishing him well. Proof of just how dangerous our flu and pneumonia can be.
Prayers for this young man.