Hockey writer Todd Little, a longtime journalist who covers the NHL’s Florida Panthers, is asking for help amid his wife Stacey’s cancer battle.
“I never imagined I’d be writing something like this,” Todd shared via a GoFundMe arranged in his wife’s honor on September 7. “Last year, my wife Stacey, the love of my life, my absolute everything, was diagnosed with Stage III Cancer. Almost overnight our lives completely changed and the rug was pulled out from under us. Life became about one thing: getting her through treatment and back to health.”
Todd called his wife “a real fighter” who has routinely been “showing up for every appointment, every round of chemotherapy, every dose of radiation, every scope, every scan, every procedure even on the hardest of days no matter how difficult it was for her.”
“My focus right now is making sure she never has to worry about anything else but getting better,” he wrote.
Since her diagnosis, however, Todd explained that medical bills have become a burden on the family.
“Unfortunately, the financial ramifications have taken a toll and become impossible to keep up with while she is unable to work,” he said. “Our situation is desperate. This isn’t easy for me. I am usually helping others, not asking for help, but between paying for her health insurance out of pocket, covering the medical costs insurance doesn’t and keeping up with everyday bills — mortgage, utilities, groceries — on one income, I’ve reached a point where I need to swallow my pride and reach out for help.”
Todd is hoping to raise $15,000 over the next six months to help with Stacey’s “treatment and recovery.”
Donations will assist in funding Stacey’s “health insurance premiums,” “medical treatment, medications and other costs not covered by insurance,” as well as “mortgage, utilities, groceries” while Todd attempts to balance “keeping the household running.”
“Every single donation, no matter the size, brings us closer to being able to focus 100% on her recovery instead of how to pay for it,” Todd wrote. “And if you’re not able to give, sharing this with your own circle costs nothing and helps just as much.”
The GoFundMe had raised over $5,000 at the time of this story’s publication.
Todd manages the Litter Box Cats blog, which has been tirelessly reporting on the Panthers since 2008. In 2023, Todd launched a separate GoFundMe after being informed the site could no longer be managed or monetized by its parent company.
“[Litter Box Cats] may not be the biggest sports internet site, but over the years we have built a nice, mostly polite community that loves Panthers hockey,” he shared. “I intend to keep that community alive, and that is where you come in. We know that there will be some costs involved to build a new home for all of us — for all of you. So your assistance is needed.”
