Despite being diagnosed at 28, Dan Pimenta has spent the last 25 years battling fires, disease. PEABODY, Mass. — At 28, Dan Pimenta was at a high point in life – he had just got a permanent slot on the Fire Department and had a part-time construction job. He and his wife, Donna, had a new baby boy at home, and he was healthy. Except he wasn’t, not by a long shot. Pimenta started experiencing a strange numbness on the right side of his head.