Teammates Start GoFundMe Site To Remember Cleo

Photo: Cleo Theodoropulos (center) with her Belmont High School Field Hockey teammates before its playoff game against Masco in November 2018.

It’s something that teammates do for their fellow player; being there for them at the most difficult of times.

Cleo Athena Theodoropulos was a junior and a member of the Belmont High School Field Hockey, playing left side forward on the playoff squad this past fall. In less than a week, she was diagnosed with a rare bone disorder which a few days later resulted in a stroke that caused her sudden death on April 22.

“Cleo will always be remembered as a ray of light, a beautiful and positive person,” wrote varsity player Emma O’Donovan who along with nine other teammates set up a GoFundMe site to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute where Cleo was being treated.

“Belmont Field Hockey will be raising money to benefit Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and any donation will make an impact. Thank you in advance for your contribution and generosity. Anything is greatly appreciated. We will all miss Cleo dearly and will remember the incredible impact she made on each and every one of our lives,” reads the appeal.

The team posted on social media to everyone they knew. And a flood of donations began.

The team passed through its initial goal of $7,000 in a few hours and broke $10,000 in about a day. So they raised the mark to $12,000. As of Monday at 6 a.m. the campaign has raised $10,810 that will go to research and treatment of cancers and blood disorders that struck Cleo.