Sabres' Leopold loses young friend to cancer
Jordan Leopold has made some good friends during his monthly visits to Women's and Children's Hospital. One of the closest was Anna Rose Leavoy, who had been fighting brain and spinal cancer since December 2010.
The Sabres' defenseman would speak with the Leavoy family at length during his visits, conversations that began last season. Today's victory over Pittsburgh was tempered when Leopold learned that Anna Rose, who was 11 months old when she was diagnosed, died today.
"Very sad," Leopold said in a text message.
"We benefited from his solo visits," Jason Leavoy, Anna's father, said in an e-mail in late December. "It's a down-to-earth visit, not too flashy, with his ears open to listen to how things are really going. ... The visits are a wonderful distraction in difficult times."
---John Vogl
