MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Dan Ackles has always been a fighter.

"He is a two time wounded warrior, he was wounded twice in Iraq so he's been a purple heart recipient for both of those," said Meridian Township Fire Department Battalion Chief Ken Phinney. "He's a Marine, also a firefighter/paramedic."

The battle Ackles is facing now though hits closer to home.

"I was about six months pregnant with our second child, with Fiona, and we noticed some irregularities and I asked him to visit a doctor," said Erin, Dan Ackles wife. "He went to the VA [Ann Arbor Healthcare System] and they found out that he had a--well the VA said that he had an infection, so we went and got a second opinion here in Lansing, and they said that he had testicular cancer."

So the war against the enemy, this time one that invaded his own body, began.

"We've done four cycles of chemotherapy, and it's been a rocky road, but we've had the support of our friends and family," Dan Ackles said. "We've had everything from meals brought to us and a Go Fund Me account set up."

GoFundMe is a crowd-funding website that allows people to raise money for a variety of reasons. The Ackles family account was set up by Battalion Chief Phinney, who's not only a fellow firefighter, but what Dan Ackles describes as someone he considers family.

"Without the ability to work, funds were unavailable to him to just pay the normal day to day life expenses that they have, and that's really why I started the account for him," Phinney said.

The account helps to cover the family's mortgage and pay other bills while Dan Ackles is on leave from work.

"There's no way we can say thank you enough," Erin Ackles said.

Dan Ackles advice to all those fighting cancer is: "Just keep on fighting and, I mean, you've just got to keep going because you take it one day at a time, and it's going to hurt every so often, but there's got to be a light at the end of the tunnel. You can beat it."

Dan Ackles will find out the progress of his battle later this month.


"The ninth you have the scan, and the eleventh we'll meet with the oncologist for hopefully the last time," Erin Ackles said.

Doctors are hopeful that the four rounds of chemo Dan Ackles received will be enough to leave him cancer free.