Casey Mclntyre: How this cancer patient freed others from $16 million medical debt

Casey Mclntyre, a New York City woman who lost her life to ovarian cancer has gathered enough money to settle the medical bills of millions of other individuals facing medical problems.

She urged her followers to consider making a donation to her cause in a social media message she intended to share after her passing.

She said that as a means to honour her life, she intended to settle the medical debt for other people.

She wrote on social media, "If you're reading this I have passed away."

"I loved each and every one of you with my whole heart and I promise you, I knew how deeply I was loved... to celebrate my life, I've arranged to buy up others' medical debt and then destroy the debt."

She added that she was lucky to have access to high-quality medical care while battling stage four ovarian cancer and wanted others to have the same.

McIntyre and her family had raised more than $170,000 (£136,000) as of Saturday for her campaign with the nonprofit organisation RIP Medical Debt. Up to $17 million in outstanding medical bills has been erased because of McIntyre's campaign since the group pays off one dollar of medical debt for every dollar contributed.

According to the group, it purchases medical debt "at a fraction of the original cost, in bundled portfolios, millions of dollars at a time."

"On average, whatever you donate has 100x the impact," it says on its website.

Medical debt may affect up to 100 million Americans, according to estimates from the non-profit KFF, which promotes health research.

McIntyre's family announced on social media that she had passed away and that in December, they would hold a "debt jubilee" and memorial event in Prospect Park, New York City, where they would honour her life by buying and forgiving the medical debt of others in an anonymous manner.

The book publisher McIntyre began her ovarian cancer treatment in 2019 and passed away on Sunday.

She said in her article that she experienced "magical" moments with friends and family in Virginia, Rhode Island, and New York over the final five months of her life while receiving hospice care.

Her spouse Andrew Rose Gregory wrote on X, the platform that was once known as Twitter, saying: "Casey. We will be searching everywhere for you because we love and miss you, even if you are no longer with us <3".