Will Cindy Die on Chicago Fire? Her Survival Rate Doesn’t Look Good Based on This Key Detail

Since she was diagnosed with cancer in season 11, fans have had only one question: Will Cindy die on Chicago Fire? Her odds don’t look good based on the real-life survival rates of patients with her condition.

Chicago Fire is NBC’s drama series following the professional and personal lives of firefighters, rescue personnel and paramedics of the Chicago Fire Department’s fictional Firehouse 51. Robyn Coffin plays Cindy Herrmann, the wife of senior firefighter Christopher Herrmann. The couple share five children together: sons Lee Henry, Luke, Max and Kenny James, and daughter Anabelle. (Kenny James was born in season 1.)

After more than a decade on Chicago Fire, Cindy was diagnosed with lung cancer in season 11, episode 11. “I’m a firefighter. I go into smoke and chemicals all day. I’m the one that’s supposed to get lung cancer. Not her,” Herrmann said when the doctor told him and Cindy that her tests came back positive for lung cancer. So…will Cindy die on Chicago Fire and what will happen to her and Herrmann? Read on for what we know about if Cindy will die or live on Chicago Fire.

Does Cindy die on Chicago Fire?

Does Cindy die on Chicago Fire season 11? As of now, the answer is unclear. Cindy Herrmann, the wife of senior firefighter Christopher Herrmann, discovered she had lung cancer in season 11, episode 11, “Guy I Used to Know.” In the episode, viewers learn that Cindy had been suffering from a cough and a fever for a while. During the episode, Herrmann checks on Cindy and learns that her illness had only become worse. The episode ends with Cindy seeing a doctor and learning that she has lung cancer, despite never smoking a day in her life. “And I’m a firefighter. I go into smoke and chemicals all day. I’m the one that’s supposed to get lung cancer. Not her,” Herrmann says in the episode.

In season 11, episode 12, “How Does It End?”, Herrmann calls his family to the table to tell them that Cindy is undergoing a procedure. Cindy tells her children that she has a tumor in her lung that the doctors want to remove so it doesn’t spread. During Cindy’s surgery, Chief Wallace Boden surprises Herrmann at the hospital and waits with him. After Cindy’s surgery is done, doctors tell Herrmann that Cindy is doing well and made it through the surgery, though they weren’t able to get the margins clean and she still had the cancer in her lymph nodes, so she will need chemotherapy and radiation.

Will Cindy die on Chicago Fire? While it’s unclear what stage Cindy’s cancer is in, in real life, the American Lung Association reports that lung cancer is leading cancer killer among men and women in the United States. According to the organization, 154,050 Americans died from lung cancer in 2018, accounting for around 25 percent of all cancer deaths.

The American Lung Association also reports that the five-year survival rate of lung cancer is 18.6 percent, which is much lower than other leading cancer types, such as colorectal cancer, which has a 64.5-percent five-year survival rate; breast cancer, which has an 89.6-percent five-year survival rate; and prostate cancer, which has an 98.2-percent five-year survival rate. The organization also reports that the five-year survival of people whose lung cancer have spread to other organs is only five percent. Given that Cindy’s lung cancer had already spread to her lymph nodes in season 11, episode 12, her survival rate is likely closer to this number. The American Lung Association also reports that more than 50 percent of people with lung cancer die within one year of being diagnosed.

Of course, Chicago Fire is not real life, so it’s possible Cindy could beat the odds. There are also fan theories that Cindy’s lung cancer could be a way to write out David Eigenberg, who has played Cindy’s husband, Christopher Herrmann, since season 1. “I have a feeling that this is going to be David Eigenberg’s last season,” a Reddit user posted in March 2023. “They’ve set up the Cindy cancer storyline as a device for Herrmann’s exit from the firehouse. Cindy will succumb to her illness, Herrmann will be running into fires but this time it will be different. He’ll no longer be able to put his kids aside and risk his life, now as the sole parent responsible for them. If something happens to him, his 5 kids will be orphaned. Come the end of the season, he’ll make the tough decision to say goodbye to his 51 family, in sacrifice for his own.”

Along with Chicago Fire, Eigenberg also stars as Steve Brady in HBO’s Sex and the City revival, And Just Like That. (Eigenberg also played Steve on seasons 2 to 6 of Sex and the City, and the franchise’s two movies.) He was photographed on the set of And Just Like That season 2 on Coney Island, New York, in February 2023, alongside Sarah Jessica Parker (who plays Carrie Bradshaw) and John Corbett (who plays Aidan Shaw.) And Just Like That films in New York City, while Chicago Fire films in Chicago.

There have also been fan theories that Cindy hasn’t been honest with Herrmann about her health. “Cindy doesn’t seem to be telling everything hm #ChicagoFire,” Twitter user @logiebearswife tweeted in January 2023. Since Cindy’s diagnosis, fans have been vocal with Chicago Fire‘s writers not to kill her off. “Chicago Fire, what we are NOT gonna do is play with Cindy,” Twitter user @aaryannax tweeted in March 2023. “If Chicago Fire kills Cindy, I will R I O T,” Twitter user @ohshlebs tweeted in January 2023. “if something happens to cindy … chicago fire count your fucking days,” tweeted Twitter user @_ayannaaaa tweeted in March 2023. “Cindy getting lung cancer is the meanest thing Dick Wolf has done to Chicago fire since killing Otis,” Twitter user @smcleod6 tweeted in March 2023.

Chicago Fire co-showrunner Andrea Newman teased Herrmann and Cindy’s “rough road ahead” to NBC Insider in February 2023. “It is going to be a rough road for the whole Herrmann family as Cindy battles lung cancer. There’s a tough fight ahead, with no short cuts or easy solutions, but the Herrmann family, and the 51 family, will come together to help in all sorts of ways as the situation progresses,” she said.

Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.

Check out our photo gallery of Chicago Fire stars and their real-life relationships.