A brotherly bond: Running for a cause close to home
The Mass General Brigham Eversource Cancer 5k Run-Walk supports innovation in cancer treatment at Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute. Click here to sign up and join us on September 20. To support Bob’s fundraiser for the Cancer Institute, click here.
In October 2022, after a day of playing golf with his buddies, Dave Spinale went to bed just like any other night. He remembers feeling normal — great, even. But around midnight, he woke up with agonizing abdominal pain. His wife rushed him to his local community hospital where, after two frenetic days of trying to manage the pain, he had an emergency surgery on his small intestine.
Two weeks later at his surgical follow-up visit, Dave learned he had a rare, aggressive gastrointestinal tumor that had perforated his intestine. “When the doctor told us the pathology results, it felt like the air went out of the room,” Dave says. “And it would not be the last time we had that experience over the coming years.”
A harrowing journey
Once he received his diagnosis, Dave knew immediately that Massachusetts General Hospital was the place he needed to be for his cancer care. He remembers seeing medical oncologist Gregory Cote, MD, PhD, at the Center for Sarcoma and Connective Tissue Oncology for one of his first appointments. Amid the deep uncertainty, Cote provided a sense of relief.
“From the beginning, Dr. Cote has been unbelievably calming and supportive for both my wife and me,” Dave says. “It was very clear to me that he is a leading expert on my condition. We couldn’t have hoped for a better doctor and team.”
While Dave was receiving treatment for his initial diagnosis under Cote’s care, additional clinical workups completed during the next year revealed other serious findings: kidney cancer and a genetic mutation that predisposed him to blood cancer. “It was truly this odd mix of bad actors that all showed up around the same time,” Dave says.
Over the following three years, Dave had one of his kidneys removed and another surgery on his intestine while receiving ongoing targeted therapy. Due to the complexity of his case, his treatment demanded the expertise of an interdisciplinary care team, which he found at Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute. In addition to Cote and the sarcoma and connective tissue oncology team, clinicians and caregivers representing hematology oncology, nephrology, urology, and cardiology have all worked in collaboration to meet Dave’s needs.
“They are rock stars at what they do,” Dave says. “There’s a level of professionalism and pride in the way they carry themselves, in the way that they sign their name to what they do. That’s the physicians, the nurses, the phlebotomists, the radiology techs, the front office staff — it’s everyone. You can feel that they’re working together across disciplines in a way that you just don’t see typically.”
And for Dave — through the major surgeries, medication side effects, uncertainty, and many sleepless nights — that level of coordinated care and compassion has been his lifeline.
“It has been a wild few years, but I feel better today than I’ve felt in a long time,” he says. “I am beyond grateful to have the best experts in the world working together to keep me healthy, which allows me to focus on taking care of myself and showing up for my family. For anyone going through a cancer diagnosis of their own, just know that you have the best team imaginable fighting for you and your family at Mass General Brigham.”
Taking action
While watching everything Dave went through, from the hospitalization on day one to the early days of treatment to the multiple rounds of surgeries, his brother, Bob, felt powerless.
“The patient is the one who has to deal with the pain, who has to go through the treatment, whose life is on the line,” Bob says. “But the family is helpless. You want to be able to step in and do something to make your brother better, but you can’t.”
For Bob, a way of doing something for Dave came along in 2024, in the form of the Mass General Brigham Eversource 5k Cancer Run-Walk. As a 14-year Eversource employee and avid runner, Bob had participated in the 5k before and knew that many of his colleagues raced in honor of their loved ones. Bob proposed the idea of running the race in Dave’s honor to him.
“Dave was pretty private about his journey at the beginning,” Bob says. “This is a very personal, harrowing journey, and unless you go through it, you can’t really understand it. But I thought it would be a good thing for me to raise money for the hospital since Dave was there going through treatment.”
Dave agreed, and Bob’s first race in his honor was a resounding success — so much so that he immediately challenged himself to top his fundraising total at the 2025 race. Once again, Bob surpassed his own fundraising record, while also becoming the top individual contributor at Eversource. Going into this year’s race, Bob hopes to continue that trend.
“When people hear that someone they care about is facing that kind of uncertainty, they want to do something. But there’s really not much you can do,” Dave says. “Training and running and raising funds — that’s meaningful, it’s hard to do, and you’re putting yourself out there. It’s awesome that Bobby wanted to run in my honor.”
Above all, participating in the 5k year after year has been a tangible way for Bob to express his gratitude for the hospital and the care teams that he put his faith in during such a difficult time.
“The biggest thing for me is that Dave’s still here. Mass General Brigham saved his life,” Bob says. “That just speaks for itself. It was a no-brainer to try and raise as much as I could.”
Walking the walk
For both brothers, the race — and the months of preparation that go into it — has been a welcome way to connect amid their busy lives. Leading up to the race, they regularly meet for some laughs and to discuss how the fundraising and training are going, and they plan to get together afterward for a toast.
“After everything that has happened, we do a better job of making time to spend together,” Dave says. “I feel very grateful to have a brother like Bobby who's outgoing, authentic, and just an awesome dude. He’s exactly the type of person you want in your corner when you’re facing a challenging situation.”
As Bob looks back on his years of running the 5k alongside his Eversource community, he says that one of the race’s many benefits has been a chance to forge deeper relationships with his colleagues.
“At work, you’re busy, and people might never get to know who you really are. Raising money for this incredible cause gives everyone insight into what really drives me in life,” Bob says. “I’m proud to work at Eversource, a company that is so active in the community. An employer giving you the opportunity to do something you love while making a real difference is amazing. I’m extremely honored to be part of this event.”
Dave agrees, saying, “They really do walk the walk, and it shows.”
“Cancer touches everybody’s lives, and Eversource is committed to doing what we can to help create a brighter future for those affected by it,” says Joe Nolan, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Eversource. “It truly takes a village to bring about that future, and we are lucky to have colleagues like Bob who are so dedicated to making a difference as part of our village here at Eversource.”