Buffalo community comes together to support young girl with cancer

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A young Buffalo Bills fan from Lockport is now battling cancer for the second time. Abbie McNett’s family found out she relapsed just a few weeks ago.

Abbie is suffering from stage four Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, a disease that’s hidden in cells in the bloodstream that develop into tumors in the body’s soft tissue. There is currently no cure, but the McNett family is choosing to continue to live life with hope, faith and love.

Abbie was first diagnosed in January 2022. Her mother, Stacie McNett, said it was quite a shock. She and her daughter kept testing positive for COVID, forcing them to isolate from everyone.

“She had 14 rounds of chemo. She had two different rounds of radiation, one here and one in New York City,” Stacie said. “She went into remission in December of 2022.”

Abbie was then on maintenance chemotherapy for a year. She was off of it for six months, but just weeks ago, the McNett family learned that Abbie’s cancer came back.

“I was ready to go back to work. Abbie just started summer school. We were getting ready to go back to school,” Stacie said. “It was kind of like your world is flipped upside down again.”

Even in the hardest times, the McNett family said Abbie has remained the bright and happy girl she’s always been. She is a big fan of AC/DC, loves camping and spending time outdoors, and is always wanting to hang out with her cousins.

Someone who has been an inspiration to her throughout her battle is Bills Quarterback Josh Allen. Abbie has been a bills fan since 2022. She’s also had the opportunity to meet Allen multiple times.

“Josh seems to be that person that is just giving,” Stacie said. “He’s friendly. He’s genuine and I think she felt that when she first met him.”

After hearing Abbie’s story, local organizations knew they wanted to help. Sweet Buffalo and BB’s Bingo are teaming up to raise money for Abbie by raffling off three pairs of tickets to Saturday’s preseason Bills game.

“I just think that we should be able to lift each other up,” said Bianca Falsetti, founder of BB’s Bingo. “It’s someone in our community that’s in need. The more that people know about it, the more we can help them.”

Stacie and her husband made a Facebook page called Abbie’s Angels where they will frequently post updates on how Abbie is doing. Her parents say the support has been overwhelming.

“An enormous number of strangers sent well wishes, prayers, donations, and it’s overwhelming,” Stacie said. “It gives us hope that we’re not alone in this, so it’s wonderful.”

If you would like to enter the Bills preseason game giveaway, you have until 8 a.m. on Saturday morning to do so. All you have to do is donate $5 to @sweetbuffalorocks via Venmo for a chance to win.

To make a donation to Abbie’s fight against cancer, visit this GoFundMe.

Trina Catterson joined the News 4 team in 2024. She previously worked at WETM-TV in Elmira, a sister station of WIVB. See more of her work here .