A Penn Township teenager honored the memory of her late uncle, who died of covid last year, by spreading joy to the health care workers at UPMC East hospital in Monroeville and a kidney dialysis center in Hempfield.

Jessica Landi, 15, of Harrison City was joined by her mother, Sharon Landi, her aunt, Kim Doyle, and other family members to deliver about 26 plants March 31 to the staff of Dialysis Clinic Inc. on Route 30 in Hempfield to thank them for treating her uncle, C. Douglas Doyle, who died of covid Dec. 10 at UPMC East.

“It was really important to me to honor my uncle,” said Jessica, who helped place succulents and cactus plants, some of which they propagated from cuttings, onto a table for the nursing staff.

Jessica, a ninth grader at 21st Century Cyber Charter School, delivered the plants as part of her National Honor Society project.

She selected them because plants can reduce stress and help clean the air of toxins. Sharon Landi said it was appropriate they chose plants for the gift because “we both love plants.”

“All of these attributes of plants make them an obvious choice to share with others who are dealing with the stress of being on the front lines,” Jessica wrote in a letter to the staff.

Doyle’s widow, Kim Doyle of Grapeville, thanked the staff for treating her husband, who was suffering renal failure.

“He hated coming here at first,” Doyle said, but then had a change of heart because of the kind treatment he received at the facility, Doyle said.

“You guys did such a good job for him,” Doyle said.

Doyle said her husband was being treated for renal disease at UPMC East in late November and was eventually released. He became ill at home and “had a lot of trouble breathing,” which required him to return to the hospital in December for treatment. He was admitted to the intensive care unit, where he died, she said.

With the help of donations from Home Depot and Lowe’s home stores in Hempfield, they had about 150 plants to give to the frontline workers, Sharon Landi said.

Jessica took 40 plants to the intensive care unit at UPMC East in early March, where they met staff outside the building, and about 10 plants to Jessica’s allergist, Sharon Landi said.

Jessica and Sharon also printed homemade “thank you” cards for the staff in recognition of “exceptional care to my Uncle Doug before he passed away from covid. … Our world is made better by this amazing staff.”

“We felt so many deserved it. We wanted to do it in honor of my brother-in-law,” Sharon Landi said.

They will donate some of the 70 remaining plants to UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, where family members have been treated, Landi said.

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