New fire hall dedicated to Fort McMurray firefighter 'Unbreakable Bo'

Fort McMurray firefighter Bo Cooper'sbattle with leukemia captured the hearts of manyaround Alberta. Now hisname will liveon in a place he loved.

Wood Buffalo Regional Emergency Services renamed its new fire hallin the community of Anzac, Alta., after Cooper.

"He was a firefighter down to the bone," Cooper's mother Carla Cooper told CBC Tuesday.

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Cooper died in November 2016. The 27-year-old lost his battle with leukemia,but not without a fight.

Cooper was diagnosed when he was 20 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of cancer where the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells, which then become unable to fight infections.

Cooper's family and the community rallied and raised $880,000 to help fund experimental CAR T-cell treatment, which at the time was only available in the United States.

His battlehad the community of Fort McMurray and beyond huddled in the professional MMA fighter's corner.

After he died, firefighters from acrossAlberta gathered in FortMcMurray for a funeral to honour their young colleague, known as "Unbreakable Bo."

Fort McMurray remembers firefighter Bo Cooper

8 years ago

Duration 1:51

Firefighters from all over Alberta gathered in Fort McMurray to support their young colleague, Bo Cooper, who succumbed to a long battle with leukemia. Cooper's memorial began with a parade down one of Fort McMurray's streets.

Family surprised by hall dedication

Cooper's father and mother were at the dedication of the fire hall in Anzac on Saturday.

They suspected something was in the works, but didn't realize the fire hall would be named after their son.

"We kind of heard wind of it. One of the members of the fire hall was talking about doing some sort of dedication to Bo," Carla said. "It was a surprise. We are definitely humbled."

Anzac is a hamlet about 40 kilometres south of Fort McMurray and the family lives nearby in Gregoire Lake Estates.

Cooper followed in his dad's footsteps and at the age of 16 became a junior volunteer firefighter at the Anzac fire hall.

He eventually went on to become a full-time firefighter in FortMcMurraybut his roots remained in Anzac, his mom said, where he was born and raised.

The new fire hall is needed, she said, adding the old one was too small for the needs of the rural hamlet that isgrowing quickly with workers and traffic from nearby oilsands sites.

The new $1-million fire hall was built because the community was "out-growing the current facility," the municipalitysaid on its website.

Carla Cooper hopes the facility reminds peopleof her son'sdetermined spirit.

A black stone plaque outside the new hall noteshis never give-up attitude.

"Bo fought bravely as he had as a firefighter," it reads. "But some fights aren't won no matter how well fought."

The plaque also saysCooper has left a lasting medical legacy: "Lessons learned from Bo's illness and treatment have since resulted in a 70 per cent success rate for those who have followed."

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Connect with David Thurton, CBC'sFort McMurraycorrespondent, onFacebook,Twitter,LinkedInor email him atdavid.thurton@cbc.ca