Nancy Elam rode into Phoenix Police Department history in 1991 as the first woman to serve as a motorcycle officer on the force. Thirty-five years later, the retired trailblazer is facing Stage IV bile duct cancer that has spread to her liver, and she is doing it while also contending with denials from her health insurance coverage.
Elam broke through one of law enforcement’s more visible gender barriers when she took to Phoenix’s streets on two wheels, according to ABC15, which reported that “in 1991, Nancy made history and broke glass ceilings for women and law enforcement by becoming the very first woman to serve as a motorcycle officer for the Phoenix Police Department.” That same report says she is now attempting new treatments for her cancer while also dealing with health coverage denials.
It is not Elam’s first fight with the disease. Several years before her current diagnosis, she had breast cancer separately, the station reported. Now, as she confronts a far more advanced illness, she says she is leaning on the people around her to get through it.
Leaning on a Blue Family
“I have the best help I could possibly get with friends, retirees, other officers,” Elam said, according to the station’s report. She also offered a simple philosophy for coping with the diagnosis: “90% of it is your attitude.”…