Teen’s death sparks international ‘pay-it-forward’ movement

TORONTO – A family’s random act of kindness in honour of their daughter’s memory has gone viral and has become a worldwide movement.

In January 2012, 18-year-old Alyssa Josephine O’Neill of Erie, Pennsylvania, was diagnosed with epilepsy.

Three weeks ago, O’Neill asked her parents to take her to Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte.

But they never got the chance to go.

The following day, the competitive cheerleader died from a grand mal seizure while in the shower.

“There isn’t a protocol for when you lose a child,” said Jason O’Neill, Alyssa’s father in an interview with Go Erie. “We didn’t know what to do or how to do it. But we knew that lying in bed and crying didn’t feel good. We wanted to feel good and honor Alyssa’s memory.”

Days after her funeral, Alyssa’s family drove to a nearby Starbucks and bought beverages for 40 people.  The family asked the baristas to write #AJO on every donated cup in a purple marker—the colour of epilepsy awareness.

Now using the same hashtag, people from around the world are now buying coffees for strangers and performing other acts of kindness, writing #AJO in Alyssa’s memory.

Hundreds have been posting photos on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, including Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey and comedian and talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres:

On Facebook, several pages were created in honour of O’Neill’s memory. To date, the Facebook page AJO Forever in our Hearts has over 28,000 fans.

The #AJO movement has appeared to spread beyond coffee. According to TODAY, several people have even paid off layaway bills for Christmas gifts.

In a touching tribute on September 14, O’Neill’s high school honoured her memory during a football game.

When O’Neill’s parents walked into the stadium unexpectedly, close to 5,000 fans fell silent then gave the family a 15-minute standing ovation. You can watch the video of the tribute below.

O’Neill’s family is also raising proceeds for the AJO Forever Fund, which will help families pay for epilepsy-related medical expenses, and will serve a scholarship fund for aspiring nurses.

This isn’t the first time a random act of kindness started its roots in a coffee shop.

In mid July, an anonymous customer walked into a Tim Hortons restaurant in Edmonton and bought 500 large coffees for the next 500 people. The movement then spread and occurred in roughly 28 different locations across Canada.

With a file from Emily Mertz, Global News