Vestavia Hills firefighter battles autoimmune disorder

In 2012, when Caleb Andrews was first diagnosed with transverse myelitis, doctors told him they were confident it would not come back.

But this past June, the autoimmune disorder that disrupts the spinal cord came back.

Andrews, 27, had just gotten home from his shift as a firefighter for the Center Point Fire Department — where he serves along with his job as a firefighter for the Vestavia Hills Fire Department — when he started experiencing horrible back pain. Thirty minutes later, the pain had not subsided, and Andrews told his wife he needed to go to the hospital.

Andrews lost feeling in parts of his spine and was admitted to UAB Hospital.

While he wasn’t “freaking out,” Andrews said dealing with the disorder again is “like a blur,” and there’s been some disbelief that it is back. Yet, he said he has a “weird calmness” about the situation.

Doctors at UAB started him on an IV steroid treatment, and he was discharged to Spain Rehabilitative Center at UAB on June 28, where he stayed doing in-patient rehab until Aug. 10. He now does outpatient therapy twice a day, utilizing various exercises to get his strength back.

It took him almost a month to be able to move anything chest down, Andrews said, and as of early September, he has “decent movement” in his legs, but he still cannot stand.

He will be in outpatient physical therapy “for the foreseeable future,” and he hopes to have as close to a full recovery as possible, he said.

The ordeal was “definitely scary,” and the unknown of what was going to happen was worst of all, Andrews said.

“I try not to think about it, but there are people who don’t recover,” he said.

Still, doctors have told him they see plenty of people recover from transverse myelitis, though that does not make what is usually six months to one year timeline of recovery go by any faster, he said.

Andrews said he wants to get back to normal life, to his work, his hobbies and to be able to provide for his wife.

“You don’t really realize how much you miss something like work until you’re gone for so long,” he said.

Andrews has been a firefighter since 2015 and has been with the Vestavia Hills Fire Department since 2019.

“I fell into it right out of high school,” he said.

Being a firefighter means developing camaraderie and brotherhood with his fellow firefighters, Andrews said.

“I don’t know of other careers that have … a backing like I’ve got,” he said. Both the Vestavia and Center Point fire departments have been fantastic, he said.

“I haven’t had to worry about a single thing,” Andrews said.

His colleagues have helped meet financial needs, along with providing food and picking Andrews up for appointments and more, he said.

Andrews’ paid time off ran out at the end of September, but other firefighters donated their time, ensuring Andrews received the maximum of 640 hours allowed for Fire Department personnel. While paid time off caps at 640 hours for Andrews, his colleagues donated enough time that, if allowed, amounted to three times the cap, Capt. Scott Ferrell said.

“Everyone wanted to give up to three times what we could donate,” Ferrell said.

“That alone gets me close to the end of the year,” Andrews said. “Not having to worry about that has been a giant weight off our shoulders.”

Ferrell said it’s been tough for Andrews’ colleagues to see him going through this, but it’s good to see him keep such a positive attitude.

“It’s really motivating to see him going through it,” Ferrell said.

His fellow firefighters visited him in the hospital and often took him to lunch, and recently, they were able to take him to the annual bell ringing for retired firefighters, Ferrell said.

The department recently held a cornhole tournament fundraiser that raised between $7,000 and $8,000 for Andrews, Ferrell said. Fire departments outside of Vestavia Hills have also stepped up to help Andrews and his family, Ferrell said. It all comes back to that camaraderie that firefighters have, he said.

“Our shifts are 24 hours, so you’re practically living with them a third of your life,” Ferrell said. “They become your second family.”