19-year-old woman battling cancer given socially distanced birthday parade in Antioch

Wednesday, April 15, 2020
ANTIOCH, Calif. (KGO) -- Emotional moments this afternoon as an East Bay city came together for a young woman battling cancer.

Abby Yamaguchi turned 19 on Wednesday. She had a brain tumor removed last November and it was found to be cancerous.
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Since that time Abby's done radiation and chemotherapy treatments. In fact, she finished her most recent chemo treatment a matter of days ago.

"Last week was a little rough. It was just hard mentally and physically, but now I feel happy and better and more alert," says Abby.

Dozens of cars lined up Wednesday so they could see Abby, say "Happy Birthday," and show their love from a social distance.



Contra Costa County Firefighters showed up with an EMT friend of Abby's, who left a gift for her on the end of her driveway.
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A family friend set up the birthday parade and Abby's mom Jamie was just as excited about it as Abby was.



"I love everything about my daughter," Jaime said. "She's strong, she's loving, she's taught us so much during this time when she's dealing with cancer."

Abby has a battle in front of her. She has ten chemo treatments to go, but she remains optimistic about what is to come and amazed by the support, saying, "I was just very thankful and overwhelmed with everything that was happening. I'm not much into being in the spotlight, so it's a little different for me."

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