Firefighter battling breast cancer gets ride home in pink firetruck
Kim Strickland underwent double mastectomy on Tuesday
Kim Strickland underwent double mastectomy on Tuesday
Kim Strickland underwent double mastectomy on Tuesday
Kim Strickland has served as a firefighter for 20 years, but now she's fighting a new battle against breast cancer.
Less than four weeks after being diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer, Strickland underwent a double mastectomy.
It's unclear if the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes, but no matter what, she's ready to fight and she's not doing it alone.
After being discharged from Anmed Health following her surgery, Strickland found a pink fire truck waiting outside the hospital for her.
"I was very shocked and surprised and it was just overwhelming," Strickland told WYFF News 4 on Friday. "I saw the people and saw that firetruck, and found out what it meant, and why it was in service, and it meant even more, and they put my name on the side so that everywhere the truck goes, now I go with them."
Strickland's Broadway Fire Department family borrowed the pink firetruck from the Berea Fire Department and drove her home in it.
Doctors said Strickland should be out of work for six weeks.
"Oh, I'll be back before six weeks," Strickland said, while listening to her fire pager and radio. "They say I'm pretty tough and I can hang with the best of them, but I'm going to come back and do it again."