Colon cancer survivor’s story about becoming calendar model inspiring others

One of the hot-ticket items this season is the Edmonton Firefighter's calendar. CTV News Edmonton's Evan Kenny spoke with one of the models, a cancer survivor.

A colon cancer survivor has laid bare his story – in more ways than one – for the purposes of raising awareness and money for a local charity.

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Aaron Miller is one of the faces (and chests) that appears in the 2026 “Turn up the Heat Calendar,” a fundraiser by the Edmonton Firefighter Burn Treatment Society.

A routine fire department medical exam in 2023 found trace blood in his stool. A colonoscopy a few months later would confirm an eight-centimetre tumor and in July, doctors removed his large intestine. He started four rounds of chemo in September and was declared in remission in December.

At that point, the lightest activity was difficult for the firefighter.

“I was maybe going on the stair climber for two minutes at level one and that was a real battle,” he told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday.

Despite that, his wife Georgia suggested he try out for the upcoming calendar photo shoot.

“I thought it was a really good goal to get my body back in shape and put back on the muscle that I lost being in the hospital and going through chemo,” Miller said. “It was just a good motivator to stick it to cancer.”

“That photo shoot, on that day, I was just in tears watching him,” Georgia recalled. “He was out in (Unity) Square and all these cars and women, they’re breaking their necks to watch him. And I’m just thinking, ‘This is five months post-chemo. He got his body into top physical shape, best body of his life. Wow.’”

With her husband’s permission, Georgia also shared his story on Instagram, receiving millions of views and thousands of comments.

“The best part of all of it is the awareness that is brought to colon cancer, as well as getting your checks,” she told CTV News Edmonton. “The best messages (have) been from the people who are going through cancer and cancer treatment right now, or young families who have just gotten the diagnosis, and they said that this post has given them the inspiration and the hope they can get through it, too.”

Miller has been blown away by the response and grateful to “be back to normal life.”

“I (have) a new respect for simple things: walking, standing, taking care of my daughter,” he said.

The calendar is on sale at select locations and online.

Proceeds support research and treatment of burn injuries at the University of Alberta Hospital, as well as the annual Alberta Fire Fighter Burn Camp for Children in Kananaskis.

“They get to come spend the week having fun with other kids that have gone through similar experiences and they get to be seen for who they are, as themselves – and not so much for their burns and other physical ailments,” explained spokesperson Kimberly Wagner.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny