Nearly 30 years after a Glendale Fire Department paramedic saved her life, a nurse at City of Hope® Cancer Center Phoenix got the chance to pay it back.
When she was 16 years old, Christy Lessnau and her mom were in a car accident caused by a drunk driver who ran a red light. Lessnau and her mom both suffered life-threatening injuries.

“Christy was so badly injured that some bystanders had taken off their shirts off and were using them to try to stop the bleeding,” said Chuck Montgomery, who was one of the first responders on the scene. “Her tongue was severed so she was unable to communicate. And her mother was unconscious and not breathing. So, we had to intubate her and perform CPR.”
Twenty-eight years later, Lessnau, a former City of Hope nurse met Montgomery again after he was diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma — a cancer linked to his career as a firefighter.
In this article, we’ll explore:
- A Chance Encounter During Chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
- What is Occupational Cancer?
- Diagnosis and Treatment at City of Hope in Arizona
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer and are looking for a second opinion, call us 24/7 at 877-524-4673.
A Chance Encounter During Chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Lessnau, a former oncology nurse at City of Hope Cancer Care Tatum Ridge, was helping to administer a chemotherapy treatment to Montgomery when she heard him chatting with a fellow former firefighter, who was also getting cancer treatment.
“He and I were just talking fire department talk, you know things like what stations we worked out and what years we served and all that,” said Montgomery, who is currently executive director of the Hall of Flame, the world's largest firefighting museum. “Since it was pretty quiet in the in the clinic, Christy overheard us discussing our histories as firefighters.”
Lessnau commented that she’d never forget the firefighters who saved the lives of her and her mom. When she shared the firefighters’ names, Montgomery replied, “Well, Christy, I am the only person in the Glendale Fire Department to this day that’s ever been named Chuck.”
In disbelief, Lessnau cried, “Oh, my gosh, it’s you!”
“It was truly a surreal moment,” Montgomery told the City Sun Times newspaper.
“I think every day that anyone who does the work that we do wonders what difference you’re making out there, Montgomery told TV station KTVK in Phoenix. “And when you get a reminder that we really do make a difference, it’s uplifting.”
Added Lessnau: “I’m very glad I can help him in his time of need as he did for me. And I want to be the type of person and the type of caretaker that he was for me.”
While at City of Hope, Lessnau helped Montgomery fight a cancer that, he told the City Sun Times “feels like a fire that needs to be extinguished.”
And while Lessnau no longer works at City of Hope, she, her mother and Montgomery still keep in touch. And they also learned they live just a couple of miles from each other.
What is Occupational Cancer?
Montgomery’s cancer has been traced to his firefighting career, which spanned more than three decades. For that reason, it’s known as an occupational cancer.
“A firefighter without risk doesn’t exist,” Montgomery told the Times. “To save people, it puts us in harm’s way, whether that involves getting them out of an engulfed car or out of a fire-engulfed house or building. Getting folks out of the hazardous situations that they find themselves in makes us join them in those hazardous situations. You can’t save a life without risking a life.”
Firefighting is one of several occupations linked to increased cancer risk. Others include painting and chimney sweeping. These occupations expose people to carcinogens (cancer-causing substances) more than workers in other careers.
Firefighters are often exposed to carcinogens through breathing or contact with the skin. This is due to the following toxic substances.
Hazardous combustion toxins: Fires creating a mixture of toxic combustion products that include liquids, gases and particulate matter, which are tiny solid particles and liquid droplets in the air.
Protective equipment: The protective equipment firefighters use contain chemicals that release suspected carcinogens called perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Diesel fumes: Vehicles at fire scenes and at fire stations expose firefighters to diesel fumes.
Up to 8% of all cancers in the world are linked to carcinogen exposures in the workplace.
Diagnosis and Treatment at City of Hope in Arizona
At City of Hope Phoenix’s Blood Cancer Center, hematologic oncologists are trained to diagnose occupational cancers like Montgomery’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other malignancies that develop in the blood. They’re also trained to use advanced treatment options to fight the disease while reducing side effects and maintaining quality of life.
Montgomery’s care team created a personalized treatment plan for him that would attack his cancer head on, which, of course, is just what he wants.
“It’s the same way you fight a fire,” he told Phoenix TV station KPNX. “You don’t say, ‘Well, I think we’ll just pass on this one. You have to formulate a plan and attack it.”
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer and are looking for a second opinion, call us 24/7 at 877-524-4673.