PERRYSBURG, Ohio — In March of 2020, Abbey Mackay's life changed forever. She was 18, finishing her junior year at Penta Career Center and excited to be a future firefighter.
"Pre-diagnosis, I didn't have any symptoms whatsoever. The only thing I had was a lump in my armpit that hurt, but it wasn't too bad. But, it did hurt and I thought it was a pulled muscle from my training," Abbey Mackay said.
After a few weeks of the lump not going away, she went to the doctor and biopsies were taken. The lump was stage 4 lymphoma, which had actually spread to her neck, chest, pelvis and spine.
She began chemotherapy immediately.
"It was hard, I was tired. Every single day I went home, laid directly in bed. Didn't want to do anything. I would get sick. There were times where I just wanted to give up here, give up now, but I didn't," she said.
From April to October, she would go to treatments every other Thursday.
When she wasn't at the hospital, she was at school doing academics online and firefighter training in-person.
"I actually personally spoke to the oncologist just to make sure that we were providing the most appropriate care. I didn't want her doing anything in lab here that was going to jeopardize any of her treatment process," Penta firefighter instructor Paul Perry said.
Despite what was going on in Abbey's life, she showed up, the same way any firefighter would if they were called for duty.
"There were times where I'd walk out of the doctor's office bawling my eyes out. Sitting through chemo treatments, bawling my eyes because it felt like every time I walked in there it just got worse and worse and worse," she said. "But, I stayed positive. Every time I left, I thought about what I wanted to do and stuck to it and eventually things were starting to get better."
She says her dream of being a firefighter is what kept her going.
"She really proved to herself that she's a fighter. She's got what it takes to be a firefighter, an EMT and work in the public safety field," her teacher said. "I mean, when she was faced with some troubled times in her life, she didn't stop. She didn't let the diagnosis that doctor's had given her stop her from doing what she wants to do."
Through it all, she was never alone. Whether it was the time she had to shave her head or when training got too hard during treatments, her crew had her back.
Abbey has officially been in remission since January 2021. Once she graduates from Penta, she plans on joining the Troy Fire Department and after that, Rossford's Fire Department.
She is now helping to raise money and awareness for the leukemia and lymphoma society.
If you'd like to donate you can find more information here.