Charles Bowman death: Paramedic at Madison County EMS, KY, dies after a battle with cancer

Paramedic Bowman lost his battle with cancer (Image credit: Charles Bowman Facebook.)

Charles Bowman, a paramedic with Madison County EMS in Kentucky, passes away after a cancer struggle. Please keep praying for Charles Bowman and his family.

The family, friends, and coworkers of Paramedic Charles Bowman grieve the loss of their beloved soul right now.

Charles served this county with Rockcastle County EMS for many years and touched countless lives. Keep reading this article to learn more about his passing and Charles Bowman death.

Charles Bowman death

Mount Vernon Fire Department announced the demise news of their beloved officer Charles Bowman with utter despair on their official Facebook page, and the statement reads the following,

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends, and coworkers of Paramedic Charles Bowman. Charles dedicated his life to a career of serving others. Charles continued to work full-time, caring for those in need, even after a cancer diagnosis of his own.

Tonight, Charles lost that battle with cancer. Throughout his career, countless lives were touched or saved by his hard work and caring heart. Those that knew or encountered him are all better just by having known Charles Bowman. Rest easy Charles.

About Charles Bowman

Charles Bowman worked as Paramedic at Madison County Ems and Somerset-Pulaski County EMS.  If there’s one thing that can be said about Charles Bowman concerning his paramedic job with Madison County EMS, it’s that he’s committed. Paramedic Bowman has served with both Madison County EMS and Somerset/Pulaski County EMS for many years.

Bowman was diagnosed with colon cancer (2019)

He is so dedicated that he didn’t want to skip work after learning that he had Stage 4 colon cancer at the age of 44, a moment he described as bizarre.

Even though it had spread to Bowman’s liver, he just wanted to take one month off rather than the required eight weeks. Even though he was still receiving chemotherapy treatments and had to return for a follow-up PET scan, he was able to go back to work on October 2. 

Chemotherapy Treatments

He was able to return to work on Oct. 2 despite still undergoing chemotherapy treatments and having to go back for a repeat PET scan afterward. 

He said he should be finished with cancer treatments by the second week of November but continues to work throughout all of it.

“For some reason, I’m still here. I’ve not gotten my job done yet,” Bowman said. “… I’ve always been a person that’s had a strong work ethic. I don’t like to sit around and not do anything. … I mean, I’ve had a job since I was 16 years old. If not one, two.”

Bowman also picks up overtime shifts as they’re available and has worked as a paramedic in Somerset for the past eight years while working for Madison County EMS for the past six years.

Last week, that translated to him working 24 hours Friday, 12 hours Saturday, 15 hours on Sunday, and 24 hours on Monday. “I was just ready to get back out there,” he said. “I can’t sit at home all the time.”He had the same attitude toward work in May 2018 when his mother passed away, too.

“Every day, I knew that mom had signed her do not resuscitate order herself, and that was her wish. She was in hospice. So the day that she passed away, my immediate family except one brother was with my mom. She wanted to be at home, and that’s exactly where she was, surrounded by family,” he explained.

Bowman about his career

Her health was the reason Bowman started working with Madison County EMS. Previously, while he lived in Berea, he would commute two hours one way to get to work.

Bowman’s first EMT job was in 1994 in Rockcastle County after he started EMT school in 1993. He said his mother, who worked as a nurse while Bowman was growing up, was also his inspiration for going into the medical field.

“I’d see the way she’d work as a nurse, and she was a very caring person, so I hope that’s instilled into me some,” he said. “I guess it was just inevitable, because my sister’s a nurse, and I’m a medic, so it was just our path that we were going to go down, I guess.”

Charles Bowman poses for a photo at the Berea station on Rash Road for Madison County EMS. (Richmond Register)

What hooked him into the field, though, was the first time he was in the back of an ambulance. “I decided that’d be my career, and I’d retire out from it,” Bowman said. So he branched out and worked for other counties, including Laurel and Jackson.

“It seemed like working two days a week wasn’t very much, and I enjoyed it, so I just wanted to continue to work and work,” he explained. “And it’s been that way for 26 years now.” In 1998, Bowman started Eastern Kentucky University’s paramedic program, too, so he can do more while he was out on runs.

Bowman’s Compassion and love toward paramedics

“EMTs, they provide basic life supports,” Bowman said. “The paramedics are a little bit more knowledgeable in the sense of they can administer the medications, they can do the heart monitors, they can do the EKGS, they can diagnose, I guess, a little bit better.”

Bowman said he never became a paramedic for the money or the thanks that he would get. “I simply like the point of knowing that if a person needs some help, And, I might be able to provide something for them,” he said. “… Also, I don’t like to see anybody hurt. I don’t like to see anybody sick.

But at the same time, it’s inevitable. And some people think paramedics are cold-hearted, it’s like ‘Well you’re family member has died.’

It’s a final word. Death is a final word, and some people just have to cope with it the best they can.” However, from the moment Bowman is called to an emergency, he goes forward with the call with compassion and empathy.

“I’m going to keep working until my body says that I can’t,” he said. “If all else fails, I can retire in the next six years if need be, but I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I didn’t have anything else to do, you know if I didn’t have to come to work.”

We extend our sincere condolences to the family and coworkers of Paramedic Charles Bowman. 

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