Brody Lee Toner began life with only a tiny, flickering flame of a chance to survive. What began as an uncomplicated birth quickly turned into a nightmare for his parents, Brion and Jodi Toner. It also became a medical war against all odds for doctors and nurses at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, where Brody was taken by Life Flight within hours of his birth.

“There were complications from day one,” says Jodi.

Brody was born in February 5, 2007, with a relatively rare heart defect called transposition of the arteries. The “great” arteries of the heart are reversed, preventing oxygen-rich blood from mixing with oxygen-poor blood and resulting in too little oxygen in the blood being pumped from the heart to the rest of the body. At Geisinger, he underwent a twelve-hour operation at five days old.

Brody failed to improve after the operation, and was subsequently diagnosed with respiratory syncytial virus, an illness that infects the lungs and breathing passages. Over the next five months, Brody had more surgeries and procedures in an attempt to save him. Finally, the doctors said to his parents: “Whatever we knew about medicine is not the case with Brody. He is rewriting the rule book. It is Brody’s way or no way.”

It took 157 days until he had improved enough to go home to Cogan Station, where he joined his older brother, Kyle, a host of family and friends, and a community that had upheld the Toners throughout the ordeal. The war had not been completely won, but Brody proved he was up to the initial battle and was determined to survive.

“It made us realize how much it means to have help in a time of trouble,” says Jodi. “And it changed the way our family thinks now about giving back.”

As soon as he was able to walk and talk, Brody became obsessed with all things to do with fire companies. His intense interest was not casual, nor was it a childish fascination. Somewhere in the heart that had had such a rough beginning, Brody was developing a commitment to serve his community.

Today, the healthy, vigorous seventeen-year-old leads a busy life juggling school responsibilities and volunteering at Citizens Hose Company in Jersey Shore and Salladasburg, and at Woodward Township Volunteer Fire Company in Linden.

“I began volunteering at fourteen with Citizens Hose Company, and at fifteen with Woodward Fire Company,” he says. “But I’ve wanted to do this since I was five when I met Eric Hillyard. He was, and still is, an interior firefighter at Citizens Hose and at Salladasburg.”

Brody would notice Eric leaving community events like baseball games to respond to calls. “I’d see him drive off in the fire truck, and one year he let me ride on the truck in a parade,” Brody remembers. Eric quickly became Brody’s mentor.

At Citizens Hose Company, Chief Ethan Goodbrod and Captain Tim Schwartzer continue to help Brody toward obtaining his state firefighter certification by the time he reaches eighteen. He’s completed 192 hours of combined department training and state certified training, and travels to different locations throughout Lycoming County to attend classes taught by state certified instructors.

“I love to learn as much as I can at company trainings,” Brody says. “My favorite thing to do is searching a structure. So we put on all our PPE [personal protective equipment] and air packs and we search a building. Sometimes the building is filled with water smoke [fake smoke] and we search for victims, or we add a hose line to the scenario to learn how to maneuver a heavy hose through a dark building.”

Ethan believes volunteering is a wonderful opportunity for young people. “It develops life skills, working as a team, doing more than is expected, and serving the community in a very real way,” he says. “For a seventeen-year-old, Brody has amazing dedication. He is such an asset. He shows up after school and does not have to be asked to do things. He is motivated. He wants to learn. I wish we had twenty more like him.”

Because of the brotherhood that exists with fire and rescue personnel, Brody has a wide circle of “fire station buddies” around the country. With his parents, he has visited stations in Arkansas, New York, Maryland, North and South Carolina, the Bahamas, and throughout Pennsylvania. A Toner family vacation means stops at fire stations everywhere, and Brody usually comes away with mementoes from each one.

“I collect shirts, patches, hats, coins, or whatever the departments have,” he says.

After graduation from Jersey Shore High School in 2025, he plans to continue as a volunteer while working toward his EMT certification with a goal of becoming a 911 dispatcher for Lycoming and Sullivan Counties.

In the meantime, he remains an enthusiastic advocate for volunteering.

“Every fire company needs more people, and it can turn into the best job in the world,” Brody says. “You can make a career of it anywhere. I tell people to just go for it.”

He would know about that. Brody does not take the opportunities he’s been given lightly—he’s been “going for it” his whole life. “I appreciate what I have and what I’ve been able to accomplish in life so far.

“I haven’t had any other issues with my heart,” Brody continues. “I do have to go back to Geisinger yearly for a checkup and an EKG. They thought when I left the hospital that I would possibly be on heart medication throughout my life. After being on it for the first few years, I was able to be off all medications. The nurses and doctors all consider me to be a miracle kid. They still use my story as an example for other kids in similar situations to give them hope.”

Hope and a big heart. It’s a great combo.

For those who may be drawn toward either a volunteer or professional firefighting career, visit nvfc.org, or stop in at your local department. For International Firefighters Day (firefighters.org) on May 4, Brody says he will “probably hang out at the station."