Craig Summy

Family and friends of Craig Summy are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with a catastrophic illness. Craig has chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because donations are tax deductible for contributors and will only be used to cover medical and related expenses.

Prior to September 2025, Craig Summy was a hard-working man with vitality and energy. Still working full-time at the age of 68 as a maintenance technician for a large manufacturing company in Pennsylvania, Craig was anything but lazy.  While on vacation out-of-state, Craig collapsed after experiencing serious flu-like symptoms. He was rushed to a local hospital, where Craig received every level of testing to find the cause of his symptoms.  He became non-responsive with dangerously low oxygen saturation and needed to be intubated to sustain life.  After an eventual medevac transfer to Hershey Medical Center as well as a myriad of blood tests and physical diagnostics, West Nile Virus Meningo-Encephalitis was finally identified as the cause of his condition.  A rarity in Southeast Pennsylvania, doctors worked hard to stabilize and begin the process of supporting Craig as his body worked to fight off the virus. After recurring bouts of pneumonia, doctors performed a tracheotomy and placed him on life-supporting systems.  From the beginning, medical professionals have done much research and repeatedly reinforced that this recovery would be a very long and slow process.  

In the past, Craig has enjoyed building model airplanes from aluminum cans and could find value and a use for even the smallest trinket.  A lover of a good joke, Craig is extremely good natured and loves to tease and share a good laugh with his family and friends.  Craig has also been a hard worker, never complaining about a difficult task to perform.  Since the beginning of his illness, Craig’s life has been dramatically altered and the changes have been both a physical and mental strain.   

In March Craig was placed in a short-term rehabilitation facility for 1 month where he received 3-hour daily therapy and was showing slow, but steady, improvement.  He was even able to, with assistance, sit up for short periods of time and specialized lifts were used to raise him to a standing position.  Unfortunately, this facility only provides short-term care and he was then moved to a long-term rehabilitation facility where his therapy dropped to a fraction of what he had been receiving and, subsequently, his recovery process declined.  

The Summy’s recognized that Craig needed unusually intensive care due to the severity of the battle with West Nile Virus. Medicare however, instead of recognizing the exceptional need and rising to the occasion, instead has stopped continued coverage for therapy and facility nursing care. The family was required to pay significant daily out-of-pocket fees for him to simply remain at the long-term facility where he physically declined due to the unavailable therapy.  

With the sudden loss of Medicare coverage, the family found themselves in a financial dilemma.  The only forward move that allowed for continuing rehabilitation therapy was removing Craig from the long-term care facility and bringing him home.  This transition has qualified him for outpatient rehabilitation therapy, however, it adds much additional strain on the family as he will now require in-home nursing care.  The family wants to give Craig the best chance at full recovery and have moved him home to receive his nursing care and seek out-patient rehabilitation therapy.  They are looking at how this coverage and care can be paid for through Medicare, Medicaid, out-of-pocket, or by generous donations from others. Home care necessitates specialized equipment, nursing care, rehabilitation therapy, a specialized vehicle to transport Craig in a wheelchair, as well as food, medications, and many additional unknown needs.  However, Craig’s recovery is very important and his family desires to see him physically recover as well as enjoy a hospital-free home environment to support mental recovery.  

West Nile has taken Craig on a tumultuous journey from one hospital to another and from rehab to skilled nursing, and finally to home care. From the beginning, medical professionals have repeatedly reinforced that Craig’s recovery would be very slow.  At this time, Craig no longer has the tracheotomy and is able to talk and communicate and breathe on his own, as well as eat soft foods.  However, his body lost so much strength and muscle mass during the beginning months of his recovery that he remains bedridden and is unable to move his limbs to perform basic tasks such as feeding himself, holding a cup, dialing and holding a phone, or even changing the channel on the remote. 

Please consider donating to Help Hope Live and give Craig a chance to rebuild his strength and regain mobility.  While this journey has been very challenging, Craig is able to talk and is aware of the challenges he is facing.  Sometimes he even takes the opportunity to joke around with his family and caretakers as they see to his needs.  The family looks forward to having him in a familiar setting where he can feel more at home, and would love to see him be able to take care of his basic needs and have the finger dexterity to hold a phone and one day even be able to build another model airplane!