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Fairfield County native Charlie Capalbo, age 23, of the town of Fairfield, died Sunday, April 24, following a five-year battle with cancer, according to a GoFundMe page established for his family.
“After five years and 745 nights spent in hospitals, let’s just say that one got by Charlie in the 4th overtime today,” reads a post from GoFundMe organizer John McCormick.
Those years included a successful battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that began toward the end of Capalbo’s varsity season as goaltender at Fairfield Ludlowe High School in 2017, McCormick said.
“What started as a doctor’s visit to address prolonged flu-like symptoms, turned into a battle against a softball-sized tumor lodged between his heart and lung,” McCormick said.
Capalbo underwent 36 months of intensive, multi-agent chemotherapy at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital and never returned to high school.
He was eventually able to enroll at Fairfield University in 2018 while continuing to receive routine chemotherapy treatment before doctors discovered new leukemia cancer cells, the university said.
That prompted a move to Boston, where Capalbo was treated at Boston Children’s Hospital and received a bone marrow transplant from his brother, William, who was 18 at the time.
In January 2020, Capalbo was able to finish the semester at Fairfield by taking courses over Zoom. He was named to the Dean’s List of the Charles F. Dolan School of Business, the university said.
Capalbo received a third cancer diagnosis in January 2021. A fourth followed in February 2022.
Determined to find a way to support their fellow Stag, students at Fairfield University banded together in a “Capalbo Strong” campaign that saw local businesses organize fundraisers for the family, the university said.
Residents of Fairfield started leaving hockey sticks on their doorsteps as a show of support. Even professional athletes offered words of encouragement, including Adam Fox from the New York Rangers and Nick Foligno, captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
On social media, students and community members took part in the #CapalboStrong Challenge, posting videos of themselves completing 22 push-ups to commemorate Capalbo’s place in the Fairfield University Class of 2022, the university said.
Capalbo thanked the community after seeing hundreds of people take part in the challenge, including fellow students, staff, doctors, and nurses.
“I nearly cried when I saw the President of Fairfield U and his wife doing the challenge,” Capalbo said. “Groups of students have shaved their heads in solidarity — there was even a hot dog eating challenge! All of it reminds me on a daily basis that I have a whole Stag family in my corner, even though from afar.”
In his post on GoFundMe announcing the death, McCormick praised the doctors and hospital staff who had a role in caring for Capalbo over the years.
“We will continue to honor Charlie in everything we do. We will stay grateful and hopeful and will recover from this loss the way that Charlie wanted us to.”
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