Rally Around Tome Carreiro and His Family

For nearly 30 years, Tome Carreiro has been the person people call when they need someone they can trust. In the operating room, on call, at the bedside, and on medical mission trips far from home, Tome shows up.

Now it’s our turn to show up for him.

Recently, Tome was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive grade 4 brain cancer. A man who has spent his life taking care of everyone else now faces the hardest fight of his own. True to his nature, his first concern was for his wife, Jen, and their sons, Noah and Luke.

This fundraiser will help provide lasting financial stability for his family, so Tome can focus his energy on treatment and the people he loves.

If you know Tome, you already know.

He’s the unofficial mayor of Southcoast. Everyone knows him, and he knows everyone. He’s quick with a smile, steady when things get hard, and always asks how you’re doing because he actually wants to know.

He’s the colleague who covers your shift when something comes up in your life and never makes you feel like you owe him. He has rearranged his own schedule for other people more times than anyone could count, usually putting himself last.

Tome began his nursing career in 1996. His life of service has included the military and work as a staff nurse, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), and chief CRNA at Charlton Memorial Hospital, part of Southcoast Health.

That commitment extends beyond the hospital. Tome regularly serves on medical mission trips to the Dominican Republic. Days after his diagnosis, he reached out to the team to say he couldn’t make it this year and asked them to hold his place for a future trip. Even then, he was looking ahead to helping others again.

Above all, Tome is a husband and a Dad.

Noah is in his first year of dental school at Boston University. Luke is a junior studying history at UMass Dartmouth, an aspiring lawyer with an eye for detail and a strong concern for others.

Tome has picked up extra shifts to support their education and ease the financial pressure on his family. Providing for Jen and their sons has always been one of his greatest priorities.

It runs in the family.

Jen shares that same commitment to others. For 30 years, she has dedicated her career to the New Bedford school system, wearing more hats than any job description could capture. She provides guidance, advocacy, and practical support for the students who need it most, often reaching far beyond the responsibilities of her role.

She is the one who looks out for students at risk, helps them see a future when they struggle to imagine one, and refuses to give up on them.

Even now, facing an overwhelming diagnosis, Tome and Jen are approaching it with remarkable positivity. Their door is still open. They still show up for the bake sale, support the community fundraiser, and find someone they’re sure needs help more than they do. They still spend their energy reassuring everyone else.

They have spent their lives taking care of other people. They deserve that same care and support.

Your gift can make a significant difference.

Treatment for glioblastoma is long, demanding, and uncertain. One of Tome’s greatest worries is how his family will be provided for if he cannot return to work.

Funds raised will support the Carreiro family by helping to:

- Cover household expenses as their circumstances change.

- Support Noah and Luke’s continued education, including housing and transportation.

- Provide Jen with dependable resources for the years ahead.

The goal is lasting stability for the family and greater peace of mind for Tome about their future.

Let’s show up for Tome and his family.

He has always worked hard and been the first to step forward when someone else needed help. Those of us who know him know that if this were happening to our family, Tome would already be there.

This is a call to everyone whose life Tome and Jen have touched, and to anyone hearing their story for the first time who wants to help.

To the CRNAs, anesthesiologists, surgeons, nurses, techs, and colleagues who have worked with Tome; to Jen’s colleagues and the New Bedford school community; and to their friends, neighbors, military community, and medical mission teams: please stand with this family and help us bring others into this effort.

Whether your connection is through Charlton, Southcoast, elsewhere in Massachusetts, across the country, or a mission trip far from home, you can help this fundraiser reach people we could never reach on our own.

Three ways to help

1. Give. Any amount helps provide stability for Tome and his family through treatment and in the years ahead.

2. Share, and ask others to share. Send this page to your colleagues, professional associations, school communities, friends, and family. Post it on your social networks and ask others to pass it along. If you know Tome or Jen, include a few words about what they mean to you. Help their story reach beyond the people who already know them.

3. Leave a Tome story. Share a memory in the comments for Tome, Jen, Noah, and Luke. Let them see the many ways he has made a difference.

Whether you’ve known Tome for decades or you’re learning about him right now, thank you for being part of this.

Tome has always put Jen, Noah, and Luke first. Let’s help him keep doing that.

Organized by Chris Gill, a close friend who met Tome while working together at Southcoast Health.