Hours After Learning He’s Cancer-Free, Lineman Heads to Louisiana to Help Restore Power

(Courtesy of Duke Energy)

Less than 24 hours after learning that he'd finally beaten cancer, lineman Tyler Manick was on the road from Old Fort, North Carolina, to Lake Charles, Louisiana. He bid farewell to his wife and child and hurried to join his crew, helping restore power to hundreds of thousands in the wake of hurricanes Laura and Delta.

On May 16, 2018, Manick was told he may only have six weeks to live. His wife, Chelsey, was eight months pregnant at the time. Manick had acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and radical treatment was his only option.

(Courtesy of Duke Energy)

“We hunkered down and held onto God,” Manick, who has worked for Duke Energy for six years, told Entergy.

The father-to-be threw himself into his treatment program, leaving the job he loved and eventually enduring 27 months of physical and mental hardship. Manick grew weak, lost weight, and desperately missed his work.

“I went out on disability when I was sick and I couldn’t work,” Manick regaled, “but I just kept telling myself, ‘If I could just get back in that bucket one more time, if I can just go down the road one more time.’ I just wanted to get back to it.”

(Courtesy of Duke Energy)

Manick’s workmates stood by him throughout his battle against leukemia, driving him to appointments and helping Chelsey with domestic chores. Incredibly, they even raised enough money to almost cover his health insurance deductible.

Gradually, Manick started to come through the other side.

On Aug. 21, the lineman had his last day of treatment, followed by a biopsy. On Oct. 8, Manick, Chelsey, and their now-2-year-old daughter, Samaira, received life-changing news: Manick was in remission.

(Illustration - BlurryMe/Shutterstock)

“I had 812 days of treatment. It was a long, tough road, but God is good,” Manick told Duke Energy’s Illumination. The family of three rejoiced, thanking God for the result, for just a couple of hours before Manick started packing his bags as he had to be somewhere.

Roughly 500 Duke Energy crew members joined forces with Entergy Louisiana after Hurricane Delta made landfall in southwest Louisiana. Upon reaching Lake Charles, Manick stepped straight back into his old routine, helping Entergy restore power to more than 300,000 people who have had to cope without it.

(Illustration - papi8888/Shutterstock)

“I feel sorry for these people; they’ve been through it in the past month or two,” Manick told Entergy on Oct. 14. “You see piles of debris on the side of the road and think these people’s whole lives have changed. I don’t know what we can do other than get the power back on, but that’s what we’re going to do.”

But rebuilding after a storm, said Manick, is the best part of being a lineman.

“It’s been my first time in this state and my first time seeing the Mississippi River,” he explained. “I love Louisiana, and it seems like the farther south you get the nicer the people get. I’m happy to get the lights back on for them.”

(Courtesy of Duke Energy)

Life, the lineman reflected, is short. If he can give somebody hope with his story of overcoming cancer, then that’s what he wants to do. In the meantime, Manick continues doing what he loves best with the people he loves most.

“It’s a brotherhood,” he said. “When I was down on my luck, they were the first ones there to pick me up. It’s a family, and that’s just how it is when you’re a lineman.”

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