BOCA RATON, Fla. — A Palm Beach County woman who’s dedicated her life to helping kids is now asking for help of her own. The teacher at Grandview Prep in Boca Raton is battling aggressive cancer — and dealing with denials from insurance.
WATCH BELOW: Her husband called WPTV — and our Michael Hoffman shares their story
Donna Leech sits in her Delray Beach home, sifting through the stacks of get-well-soon cards from her students.
“I’m one of those crazy teachers that I enjoy watching my students get it,” said Leech. “I always try to tell them, you've got to face things with an open mind. If you don't have an open mind, then you didn't learn anything.”
For thirty years, the former teacher of the year has devoted her life to the future. But now, as she battles an aggressive form of cancer, her future is uncertain.
It started as a bump on her head, she showed it to the school nurse, not thinking much of it.
“She said, You need to go to the doctor right now,” said Leech. So I did.”
Tests quickly confirming - cancer. It started in her salivary glands — spread to her lungs and now- the base of her brain. Her oncologist told her it’s the fastest-growing cancer she’d ever seen.
She had surgery, then radiation —all covered by insurance through Redirect Health— but then coverage stopped— before her next critical steps in treatment- chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
“They told me the chemo’s going to cost $1,000 every three weeks,” said Donna’s husband Ken Leech. “Insurance won't cover it?” asked WPTV’s Michael Hoffman. “No,” said Leech. “Insurance won't cover they cover the radiation, but not the chemo. And who reads the fine print finds out they don't cover chemo?”
Searching for answers - WPTV’s Michael Hoffman reached out multiple times to ReDirect Health, and is still working to learn why her chemo is not covered.
As Donna battles her insurance company, her community has raised nearly 50 thousand dollars to help, via a GoFundMe
In what she calls a sink-or-swim moment, she wants to swim
“So I've decided I want to float my ship and not sink it,” said Leech. “So I'm just doing everything possible that I can to be here another day for us to tackle a fun math question that they all hate, or just something like that. Yeah, just to make me feel better.
