Aly Raisman Presents Dana-Farber with $10,000 Gift

BOSTON, MA — For Needham native and Olympic medalist Aly Raisman, the hallways of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute are all too familiar. Years earlier, a trip to the hospital meant visiting her grandmother, who received medical treatment at the medical center until her death from lung cancer in late 2011. This time, however, the visit was to give back.

Raisman was on hand to give the cancer research center and hospital a $10,000 donation for the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, on behalf of Olympic sponsor Bridgestone. Raisman also visited with several patients at the hospital following the check presentation.

Even if she didn’t have the medals and the gymnastics titles, Raisman would remain a familiar face. While chatting with patients, nurses walked up to her to say that they treated her grandmother. One patient, a Needham resident, turned out to be the next door neighbor of a client of Rick Raisman, her father.

"I think every person my grandmother met, she touched in some way. She was always energetic, so amazing, and she would always brag about her grandchildren and she was so proud of her grandchildren. We always talk about her , we always talk about her and we miss her a lot," the Olympian said after the visit.

Naturally, every time she went into a room and saw a new patient, they wanted to know how her mother, Lynn Raisman, who made headlines during the past two Summer Olympics for her infamous moments of stress during her daughter's performances, was doing.

The event wraps up what has been a homecoming weekend of sorts for Raisman. Sunday, she capped off a three-month tour with the U.S. gymnastics team with a doubleheader at the TD Garden.

"I haven't been home much since the Olympics and now that the tour is over, we made this a priority obviously because this is so special to my family and I," she said.

On the gymnastics front, she plans on taking a break from the sport before returning to train for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Image Credit: Dan Libon