New Yorkers Rallying Behind Hudson Valley Firefighter and Family

A man who battled flames in the Hudson Valley is in need of help after a large growth was discovered on his brain.

On Saturday, Sept. 5, on his 35th birthday, Jay Lewin went to a hospital after complaining of a severe headache. A CT scan found a growth on his brain and he was transported to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse for emergency surgery to remove a 3 cm tumor.

Lewin is a John Jay East Fishkill graduate. He was a member of the Wiccopee Fire Company from 2001-2009, his wife Laura Lewin told Husdon Valley Post.

"Jay’s doctors are optimistic for his recovery but he has a long road ahead. A recent MRI has indicated there is some damage to his brain as a result of the pressure build up in his head before the surgery took place. We won’t know how much of a recovery he can make at this point, time is the only thing that will show us how he will heal," Laura Lewin wrote in a GoFundMe.

Jay now lives in Vernon, New York with his wife and their two young sons,  9-year-old Brennan and 7-year-old Caden. He's currently the assistant chief of the Vernon Fire Department.

Lewin left ICU on Thursday and started rehab. His recovery is expected to take up to a year and will keep him out of work. A GoFundMe was started to help pay for Lewin's recovery and his family's expenses.

"We always hear how horrible our medical system and insurance coverage is, but we don't really get it until we are in it. It is sickening how expensive it is. There is literally no price you can put on keeping someone alive and I would pay anything to have Jay here, and we will. Never in a million years did I think we would have a GoFundMe to help us," Jared Stanely wrote in an update on the GoFundMe.

As of Monday morning, the GoFundMe has raised over $14,000.