With heavy hearts, the Ventura County Fire Department announces the line of duty death of Engineer Thomas “Tommy” James Daniel Minadeo.
This fundraiser is to benefit Vanessa Gubbels, Tommy Minadeo’s Fiancé. Vanessa and Tommy dated for four years and got engaged in September 2024. Tommy was a firefighter for the Ventura County Fire Department for the last six years and a VCFD Fire Control Worker (VCFD Hand Crew) prior to that.
In October of 2024, while on duty and at the scene of a medical emergency, Tommy was lifting a patient off the ground and felt a “pop”. Tommy assumed the “pop” he felt was something in his back. In actuality, the “pop” ended up being the tearing of his spleen.
Tommy sought treatment at the ER and was immediately admitted to the ICU. Twenty-three days after getting engaged, Tommy was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Tommy completed four rounds of chemotherapy and had found a match for a bone marrow transplant.
The goal was to get Tommy into remission with a fifth round of chemotherapy and then get him the bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, Tommy would never get that chance. Five months after being diagnosed with AML at 32 years old, Tommy’s courageous battle with cancer ended. While receiving his fifth round of chemotherapy, on March 7th, 2025, Tommy succumbed to his illness at Keck Medical Center surrounded by friends and family.
As you can imagine, Vanessa is left reeling. Six months after getting engaged, she is now a grieving widow. In an attempt to alleviate some of her financial burden, we are asking for your help. Tommy and Vanessa were a dual-income couple who lived together and shared bills together. Now, Vanessa is addressing the unforeseen costs of hospital visits, mortuary costs, celebration of life events, ETC. No amount of money will replace Tommy or take away Vanessa’s pain. The goal is to honor Tommy by relieving some financial stress for Vanessa. Thank you all
Cause Details
Memorial
With heavy hearts, the Ventura County Fire Department announces the line of duty death of Engineer Thomas “Tommy” James Daniel...
With heavy hearts, the Ventura County Fire Department announces the line of duty death of Engineer Thomas “Tommy” James Daniel Minadeo.
This fundraiser is to benefit Vanessa Gubbels, Tommy Minadeo’s Fiancé. Vanessa and Tommy dated for four years and got engaged in September 2024. Tommy was a firefighter for the Ventura County Fire Department for the last six years and a VCFD Fire Control Worker (VCFD Hand Crew) prior to that.
In October of 2024, while on duty and at the scene of a medical emergency, Tommy was lifting a patient off the ground and felt a “pop”. Tommy assumed the “pop” he felt was something in his back. In actuality, the “pop” ended up being the tearing of his spleen.
Tommy sought treatment at the ER and was immediately admitted to the ICU. Twenty-three days after getting engaged, Tommy was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Tommy completed four rounds of chemotherapy and had found a match for a bone marrow transplant.
The goal was to get Tommy into remission with a fifth round of chemotherapy and then get him the bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, Tommy would never get that chance. Five months after being diagnosed with AML at 32 years old, Tommy’s courageous battle with cancer ended. While receiving his fifth round of chemotherapy, on March 7th, 2025, Tommy succumbed to his illness at Keck Medical Center surrounded by friends and family.
As you can imagine, Vanessa is left reeling. Six months after getting engaged, she is now a grieving widow. In an attempt to alleviate some of her financial burden, we are asking for your help. Tommy and Vanessa were a dual-income couple who lived together and shared bills together. Now, Vanessa is addressing the unforeseen costs of hospital visits, mortuary costs, celebration of life events, ETC. No amount of money will replace Tommy or take away Vanessa’s pain. The goal is to honor Tommy by relieving some financial stress for Vanessa. Thank you all
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