Hospital Accepts Just .50 to Treat Rare Disorder, Family Repays $1.5M 63 Years Later

Dale Brownell grew up to become a doctor, inspired by the moment as a young orphan when Seattle Children’s Hospital accepted a 50-cent piece from him as payment for a year’s worth of treatment for his rare bone disorder.

The hospital administrator solemnly accepted the coin in 1951 as payment in full, which made the Colorado boy swell with pride.

Dale’s wife, Dr. Judith Brownell told King News-5 last week, “The (administrator) told him it was just fine. That he had given everything he had and didn’t have to worry about the rest of the bill.”

On the train home, the 12-year old boy found a $5 bill tucked inside the lunch his nurse had packed for his long journey. He vowed then and there to become a doctor so he could treat patients in the generous way he had been treated, and to pay back his entire debt to the hospital.

When he died of a sudden heart attack at age 52, he had not yet kept his second promise. Judith told him that she would square the debt he had sworn to pay.

Now she is donating their entire estate, worth $1.5 million to the hospital that never turns away a child in need.

(WATCH the video below or READ the story from KING-5)