HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Tom and Becky Arruda remember the COVID-19 pandemic for its lockdowns, isolation, and a very close call.
“It is like a miracle. It feels like a miracle,” Becky Arruda said.
“I’ve never had a health problem in my life," Tom Arruda. "Not even a broken bone. Everything was perfectly fine.”
Tom Arruda runs and plays golf to stay fit. After an August 2020 checkup, doctors gave the then 48-year-old father of two a clean bill of health. But just three months later, the Henrico man's health took a turn.
“It didn’t really hurt that bad. It just hurt me in certain directions. I said it is a pulled muscle it is going to heal,” he said.
In November 2020, he started tasting blood.
“Then I looked in the mirror and if you have ever seen a Dracula movie and they bite someone that is what my teeth looked like,” he recalled.
Doctors diagnosed Arruda with Leukemia.
“I walked in and he was on the couch with his head in his hands," wife Becky recalled."I said, ’It was bad isn’t it?’ He broke down crying and said, ‘Yeah it’s bad.'"
The Vice President of IT at Dominion Energy rushed to Massey Cancer Center at VCU where he started chemo.
“Yeah it wasn’t a good story,” he said. “They were like be thankful you showed up when you did because we’d be having a different conversation if you waited another month.”
He would spend 34 lonely days in the hospital over the holidays.
During the height of the pandemic, he was allowed only one visitor daily.
“That was it for the whole day,” Tom said. “There were no more visitors. There were long days. I didn’t have any energy. It just zaps all of your energy.”
Becky visited every chance she got.
“He never ever said ‘Why me.’ Never,” Becky said. “I think one of the phrases early on he said was like, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s just do this.’”
After his first round of chemo failed, he faced a second hospital stay.
“We did a lot of FaceTime with the kids because we couldn’t be there together,” Becky said.
Doctors and Tom agreed the best course of action was a bone marrow transplant.
It worked.
“So the transplant was in the middle of April 2021,” Tom said. “A few months after the transplant, we kind of knew things were looking up.”
“As soon as he could swing a club he was back playing golf,” Becky said.
The gift from someone he doesn’t know saved Tom’s life. Tom has just one question for the donor.
“Why did you decide to do this because without that person I’m probably not here,” he said.
“There aren’t enough words to thank that person for their selflessness,” Becky said. “Somedays I look at him and I say I can’t believe that happened. I just can’t believe it happened.”
Last fall, Tom and his loved ones walked in their first-ever Light the Night event. Their goal was to raise money and awareness.
“For me, I wanted to see the other white lanterns because you kind of feel alone,” Tom said.
Tom Arruda is not wasting his second chance at life — compliments of a generous stranger.
“It’s been a long 18 months,” Tom said. “I’ve come on the other end and everything looks good.”
Tom and Becky are keeping their promise to help others. The Henrico couple and a group of family and friends will gather together Saturday, October 15 for Light the Night in Innsbrook which will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Watch Greg McQuade's stories on CBS 6 and WTVR.com. If you know someone Greg should profile, email him at greg.mcquade@wtvr.com.
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