Hockey game to benefit daughter of former firefighter

Posted: May 19, 2023 / 10:28 PM CDT

Updated: May 19, 2023 / 10:29 PM CDT

OWENSBORO, Ky. (WEHT)–Tri-State firefighters are coming together to help the family of one of their own, once again, dealing with a difficult diagnosis. Georgia McCrady was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Her father, an Owensboro firefighter, died from brain cancer. This weekend, the Hoses Hockey Team hits the ice to raise money for McCrady and her family.

“I went to the doctor for headaches, and it was kind of a worst scenario thing. For the longest time, I did not want to call it a brain tumor, I just called it the spot,” McCrady says.

An MRI scan revealed McCrady had a benign brain tumor. Doctors say it is near the base of her skull near the pituitary gland in optic nerve.

“They didn’t want to do surgery because it could totally screw up vision,” she says.

McCrady began radiation this past Monday at a hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. Doctors say the treatment will last for five weeks.

“This week went very well,” she says.

To help offset the cost, the Owensboro Fire Department and Daviess County Fire Department have partnered with the Evansville Hoses Hockey Team to host a hockey game against a benefit team from St. Louis.

“I cannot put into words how appreciative I am of everything…everybody has been so sweet. It is just amazing how much they care and are taking care of me and my family,” McCrady says.

This is not the first-time firefighters have stepping in to help the McCrady family. Their dad and former firefighter, David McCrady, was forced into early retirement after being diagnosed with brain cancer. He died a few years later.

“It is a series of unfortunate events that have led us to this point. It is often said that it is a family and a brotherhood that firefighters, EMS, and police all come together…but it truly is and this is the time that it shows,” says her brother Will McCrady, a firefighter at the Daviess County Fire Department.

The hockey game takes place this Saturday at 7pm at the Edge Ice Rink in Owensboro. A tailgate party us expected to start at 6 pm.