This eulogy was delivered at Barry Galfano's funeral service by Roy Richter, the president of the Captain's Endowment Association. You can read more about Barry's phenomenal career with the NYPD and his heroic actions on September 11 and the weeks and months afterwards in the book, Brave Hearts: Extraordinary Stories of Pride, Pain and Courage. www.braveheartsbook.com. He paid for his courage with his life.
My name is Roy Richter and I am the President of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association. I recently had the privilege of working with Barry to create a video that tells Barry’s story in his own words.
When we interviewed Barry for the video this past March we asked him “How do you want your family to think of you?
Barry responded “I want them to realize that I was a fighter. Never give up. Set goals and set out to achieve them, and never accept an answer that isn’t right for you. And I tell my kids – As long as you’re happy, as long as you made the decision with all the facts that you have. That’s what life is about.”
What I am about to read is Barry’s letter to Cynthia Brown who interviewed Barry in 2008 for the book Brave Hearts: Extraordinary Stories of Pride, Pain and Courage.
“In His Own Words”
Since my interview with you in 2008 my life has changed in so many ways. I was diagnosed with small intestine cancer in November 2008 and had a 9 hour surgery to remove a tumor that was completely blocking the opening. The doctors also removed a portion of my small intestine and a duct that connects to the pancreas. I needed a second surgery to stop fluid from draining into my body and to close the staples and sutures that had ruptured when they did a C.T. scan of my body.
I was in the hospital for a total of 25 days and lost 30 pounds. I left the hospital on December 9, 2008. It took 2 months for my surgery to heal and my intestines to start working normal again. By now I had lost a total of 40 pounds. I had a P.T. scan in February 2009 that revealed the cancer had metastasized to my liver and right lung and I began chemotherapy in February. I had six months of chemo and then my immune system crashed and I was hospitalized for a week in North Carolina while on a family vacation. When I returned my doctor stopped the chemo and said I needed to regain my strength and immune system back.
For the next six months I worked out and gained 30 pounds back and regained my immune system but when I had another scan in December, they found 5 new tumors in my lung. I then went to several doctors to get other opinions and was told that chemo would not prolong my life and there is no cure for intestinal cancer. Once it spread to my liver and lungs there isn't much they can do for me. Instead of giving up I got MAD and started doing my own research into natural immune system boosters, and natural herbs and mushrooms, and other supplements that have shown some success in shrinking tumors.
My biology degree finally became useful and I (red) read hundreds of science journals and medical studies on various natural supplements. In January 2010 I started using about 25 to 30 different supplements and concentrated on building my body and my immune system up to keep my cancer in check.
I had another scan in February and it indicated that the tumors in my lung were still there, but two may have shrunk a little bit. The good news was that my intestines and liver were still clear - so I took it as a success and really hit the supplements hard since then. I take six different types of mushrooms, ten types of herbs, and a total of thirty types of supplements and believe that when I go back at the end of May for my next scan - that my tumors will be gone or smaller than they were.
I just ran the NYPD - Police Memorial 5k on Sunday May 16th and was able to run the complete 3.1 miles. Last August I barely was able to walk the Sgt. Ferguson Memorial run over the Brooklyn Bridge and almost passed out afterwards. In May of last year I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs in my house without passing out.
So knowing that I can run three miles and workout five days a week has me believing that I will beat cancer down and show others how to take control of their bodies and fight it naturally. When the doctors told me that there is nothing that they can do for me because I have incurable stage 4 cancer, they awoke the fighter in me and I knew that it was up to me to save my life. For twenty-five years as a cop I felt that I had to save the lives of others. Now it is my life that I need to save and I'm NOT going down without a fight.
I have never lost hope. I never felt "why me".
I only felt that it was a blessing to have cancer because it made me set priorities and spend quality time with my family. I am closer with my family now and I truly believe that I am a better person today than I was before I got sick. I have faith in God, faith in my family and friends, and faith in myself. I fear nothing and believe in the saying, "that which does not kill you, makes you stronger".
On behalf of the entire NYPD family THANK YOU Captain Barry Galfano for your service.
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