Age 7 Girl Battling Deadly, Incurable Condition Made Honorary Firefighter: 'This Was My Dream All Along'

Plenty of 👧Children are in awe of firetrucks and firemen. The lights, the sounds, the excitement, the heroism — all of it dazzles young hopefuls.

Hanford Fire Department Chief Steve Pendergrass has no doubt met many of these young men and women who are eager to join the cause and has given them words of encouragement.

When he met the daughter of Councilwoman Amanda Saltray, 7-year-old Penny Saltray, who expressed her eagerness to become a firefighter, he told her that if she worked hard then one day she could become one.

What Pendergrass didn’t know was that Penny has been fighting for her life, suffering from an incurable condition, and in reality — no matter how hard she works — becoming a firefighter simply isn’t in the cards for her.

After learning this sad truth, Pendergrass decided to do something for Penny to help her achieve her goals. On Tuesday, at a well-attended ceremony, Penny was sworn in as an honorary firefighter.

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“She doesn’t deserve the life she’s been dealt, and for one moment on one day she got to experience something so good,” Amanda Saltray told The Hanford Sentinel