Twenty-one years ago this month, Boston College’s Jay McGillis lost his fight against cancer, but his legacy lives on for perpetuity through the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation, created in his honor to help families who are tackling childhood cancer. Resigned to death after his body rejected a bone marrow transplant from his oldest brother Michael, McGillis returned home for his final 48 hours, lying in bed, not speaking or communicating. Kathy, his oldest sister, sat to the left of his bed on the second floor of the family’s two-story house, holding his hand as he inhaled, then let out his last breath. Fireworks went off outside. She ran down the hall, opened her calendar book and penned an entry:
“I will never let him leave my heart. Please stay with me forever Jay — I need you.”
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