Dying woman raises funds to settle $82 million in medical debt for others

A young woman who recently died of ovarian cancer has left a beautiful legacy. Before dying, she helped to set up a fund for other ailing people whose medical care has put them into debt.

In an incredibly bittersweet social media post, Casey McIntyre wrote, “to celebrate my life, I’ve arranged to buy up others’ medical debt and then destroy the debt. I am so lucky to have had access to the best medical care at @MSKCancerCenter and am keenly aware that so many in our country don’t have access to good care.”

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McIntyre, an editor at Razorbill (an imprint of Penguin Random House), went on to explain that she’d partnered with RIP Medical Debt — a nonprofit organization that buys debts and clears them. Because the group is able to buy the debt for a fraction of the cost, it can relieve about $100 of debt for every dollar it receives in donations.

She died earlier this month at the age of 38 and is survived by her husband, Andrew Rose Gregory, and their 18-month-old daughter, Grace.

McIntyre’s post garnered over 1 million views, and Instagram and X users responded with warm wishes and pledges to help. McIntyre’s fund has raised over $828,000, which could pay for almost $83 million in medical debt for Americans nationwide.

In her final post on X, she expresses her love for everyone (note: she uses profanity here).

Nearly one out of four middle-class Americans have unpaid medical bills, according to one recent report from the nonprofit Third Way. The fund that this generous woman set up — Casey McIntyre’s Debt Jubilee — continues to raise money to help those who are struggling under this burden.

“Casey was very, very, very funny,” her husband, Gregory, told NPR. “She was just a hilarious woman. From our very first date, she was cracking me up, and I was cracking her up. And we never stopped laughing even while, frankly, you know, she was struggling with her diagnosis of stage 4 ovarian cancer for four years. When I look back at that, it’s pretty remarkable.”

Also remarkable? The ever-growing gift she left behind.