School raises money to send beloved, terminally-ill secretary to Hawaii

A little more than a year ago, Debra “Debbie” Hall, went to the doctor for a scratchy throat she thought was caused by allergies. After a few trips to the ear, nose and throat doctor, she was sent to a neurologist who quickly diagnosed the problem. 

“When I finally got into a neurologist, they were able to quickly diagnose the situation and concluded that I have had this for years,” said Hall.

By “this” she means amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. 

Hall has worked at Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah, as the secretary for the counseling department and the registrar for 19 years.  

Talking to her colleagues, it’s clear that her impact on the school has been immeasurable. 

“In all the years I’ve worked with her I’ve never seen her lose her patience or get upset with anybody,” said Robyn Lawson, a counselor who has worked with Hall for six years. “She’s just loved cause she’s so patient and kind.”

Lawson said Hall and her husband came to the school to let the department know about her diagnosis.

“The doctor said if she had a bucket list to get started on it quickly,” her husband explained.

“We all knew she wanted to go to Hawaii,” said Lawson. “When she regained her composure she joked ‘better start looking at Hawaii!’” 

The staff knew immediately that they wanted to make this trip happen for Hall, her husband and her kids and grand-kids. 

“They [Hall and her husband] are just the sweetest people... they never would have suggested it,” said Lawson. 

They told her story through a GoFundMe page and shared it on Facebook and Twitter. They have now raised $17,000. 

Lawson tweeted it out as well, and found one thing especially sweet: “As the tweet numbers grew I could see a correlation between the donations on the GoFundMe page. It’s so sweet. It’s full of donations from students for five, ten even 50 dollars.”

Since Hall isn’t on social media, Lawson set about printing off all of the comments so that Hall could read them and see how loved she is by so many people.

After the first day it was posted Lawson said, “It was about 75 pages. I told her to go home and read about how much everyone loves you.”

Even in her time of need, Hall was mostly intent on expressing her gratitude and hope that she would somehow find a way to reciprocate. 

“I will always remember the kindness of so many people,” said Hall. “Though I know there are more difficult times ahead  I will always remember the people around me and try to in some way repay it to someone else.”

“You always hear that quote ‘be the change you wish you wish to see in the world,’”said Lawson. “And I watched one person just quietly do her job, without spotlight or anything... just doing her job and just being herself. I don’t think she realizes the effect she’s had on people’s lives.”

In:
• GoFundMe