(Memphis) A woman who fights to save people’s lives is now fighting for her own.
She’s a 911 dispatcher for Hardeman County with stage four cancer who still shows up for work.
For most of us, she’s a life line.
If you’re in danger or need help in Hardeman County, Penny Chaney is there.
Not today.
“It was about 4 o’clock in the afternoon and she just couldn’t take it anymore,” said dispatch partner Chris Hill.
After battling cancer for eight years, the 911 dispatcher is now in the hospital.
“August 5th, she called, said that it had went to her esophagus, lung, chest, abdomen,” said Hill.
Doctors say Penny has months to live, yet she’s been showing up, saving lives, taking your phone calls, even while in the worst pain.
“It’s been hard on us. We just try not to talk about it because we feel like once we start crying, we will never stop,” said Hill.
It’s been one week since Penny’s been too sick to come to work but her dispatch partner, Hill, believes she’ll be back.
Her co-workers, rescue workers, are not going to let her go that easy.
They’re selling bracelets that read “Prayers for Penny Chaney.”
“We’ve sold 600 already and we ordered 1,000 more,” said Hill.
The money raised goes to help Penny pay her medical bills.
“It’s been really hard to see anybody suffer like this,” said Hardeman County Sheriff John Dollen.
The sheriff and her closest colleagues know bracelets might not be enough to save her life.
“We all fear the day that we might get that call that she’s not with us anymore,” said Marilyn Woody, the communications captain.
“Yet, you get calls like this all the time?” asked reporter Sabrina Hall.
“All the time,” said Woody. “But when it’s one of us, it is a lot more difficult .”
Woody says Penny, a mother of three and grandmother of two, is definitely also part of their family.
“She is everything,” said Hill.
“She’s a fighter and she’s going to fight this ’til the end,” said Woody.
If you want to support Penny’s fight against cancer, you can buy a bracelet for just $3.
The dispatch center says it will even mail it to you.
Just call 731-228-3000 for more information.
You can also donate by going here.
