Presley Pritchard was 18 years old when she became a mother for the first time.
Her fellow firefighters, all men, looked at her with distrust. They said she was too weak, that her small body would not withstand the work, and that she had probably only joined the department to “date them”. After giving birth to her daughter Payton in Kalispell, Montana, Presley had lost nearly all her muscle mass. The pregnancy was complicated, she spent months on complete bed rest, and she gained only 7,7 kilos.
Instead of giving up, she started training. She went to the gym, lifted weights, and changed her body workout after workout until she achieved a 137-kilo deadlift. Today, at 34, during academy drills, she carries a 95-kilo mannequin out of burning buildings while blindfolded.
On Instagram, where 431 thousand people already follow her, she tells her story to other women who doubt their own strength. “Now I’m probably the first choice over most men”, she says. The same men who once underestimated her now trust her to get them out alive.
