By Kyle Coppola
Leesburg Student’s Simple Act of Kindness Eases Local Mother’s Pain
In a moment of profound vulnerability amid her husband’s battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, Alyssa Healy found unexpected comfort from a local high school student who paused his lunch to offer kindness at Leesburg Hospital.
Alyssa’s husband, Tom, 42, an analyst at State Street Fund, was admitted to the hospital recently after his ongoing fight with the aggressive disease. Tom has been ill for the past six months, exhausting his vacation, family leave and sick time while the illness went undiagnosed until the pancreatic cancer was confirmed at stage 4.
With two young children at home, Maddison, 4, and Joshua, 18 months, Alyssa stepped away from her husband’s bedside to grab lunch and make necessary phone calls. Overwhelmed, she began crying in the hospital cafeteria.
That’s when Dominic, a student at Leesburg High School’s Medical Academy, noticed her distress. Dominic approached Alyssa with tissues in hand and asked if she wanted to talk. This young man sat with her, listening attentively to her account of the family’s difficult journey and offered comfort.
“I just wanted her to know that God is with her through it all,” Dominic later said of his gesture.
The small act of empathy meant the world to Alyssa during one of her darkest moments.
“I needed a break from sitting in the room,” she says. “This little gesture meant everything to me.”
Alyssa expressed deep gratitude to Dominic, The Leesburg High School Medical Academy and his parents for raising such a compassionate individual.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she says. “I hope this gets back to his family or school.”
A GoFundMe campaign organized titled “Support Tom’s Fight Against Pancreatic Cancer,” has raised more than $30,000 toward a $35,000 goal to help cover medical bills, mortgage payments, insurance, medications and daily expenses for the family. Tom is described by loved ones as a caring, loving husband, father and son who has always worked hard to help others, recently began chemotherapy with plans for further treatment.
Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most challenging diagnoses, with limited treatment options in advanced stages. Our thoughts are with the family.
Thank you to Dominic for the compassion showed.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
