HOPE, Kan. (KSNW) - A nightmare for a family turned into a grateful rescue in the midst of the Sunday blizzard. A young Kansan needed urgent care for a potentially life-threatening situation. So, a local fire chief stepped in. The family needed to get their 21-year-old son with cancer to the emergency room. An ambulance couldn't get to them, and they got stuck trying to get through the roads. Desperate for help, the family reached out to the town's volunteer fire chief. Damion Lininger, who is battling stage 4 lung cancer, was told by his doctor to head to the emergency room immediately because of an infection. "It could have been really bad. I mean, the infection had spread in his arm pretty fast. We marked it with a marker. About an hour and a half later, it had already spread another inch and a half, two inches down his arm," said Billy Lininger, Damion's father. He added that after they ventured out on the roads, they knew their only way to get there was to call Fire Chief Chad Lorson, Dickinson Co. Fire District #2. Saline County declares state of disaster, calls on community "We know in a pinch that if we had to, that Chad would be there in a heartbeat. There's not very many people out there do that anymore," said Billy. In Lorson's tractor, they traveled 20 miles on Kansas Highway 4 to Abilene, a 25-mile journey that took two hours, witnessing other vehicles sliding off the road. Dickinson Co. Fire District #2 Chief Chad Lorson's tractor (Courtesy: Billy Lininger) "I mean, whether a drift was here was slick there, how deep the drifts were, stranded vehicles sitting in the middle of the road we had to go around. Just every mile gave us something new," said Lorson. Lorson added that this is his way of giving back to his community. "We're out there to serve a purpose, to go put out someone's fire with the grass fire or house fire or take a cancer patient to the emergency room on a snowy darn day. You do what you have to do," he said. "He's one of the guys that he will go above and beyond for anybody, you know," said Billy. Damion got the treatment he needed and was released from the hospital Tuesday. Billy says they couldn't be more grateful. As for Lorson, he said the town is still dealing with the aftermath of the storm and said that it's important that drivers are still careful on the roads. For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here.