Mike Hughes fell in love with Carly four months before she died. Carly Hughes (they have the same last name) was just 23 when she was diagnosed with gastric-esophageal cancer. Mike, Carly’s friend from college, came to visit her in the hospital. Those visits turned into all-night talks, a budding romance, and plans for the future.
When Carly passed away Feb. 17, 2013, Mike and Carly’s mother, Irene Vouvalides, channeled their grief into a charity in Carly’s honor. Carly’s Kids Foundation benefits Holy Family School, a disadvantaged elementary school in Mississippi that Carly visited twice while she was studying education at Boston College. The foundation also raises money for digestive cancer research.