On October 5, 2026, our dear friend April J. Manals (née Summers) was found critically injured by a gunshot wound to her head in her home in Pennsylvania. What’s more heart-breaking: she was shot by her husband, who was experiencing a mental health crisis; he then killed their beloved family dog before taking his own life.

In the wake of this unthinkable loss, April is in a coma, fighting for her life. She and her family face a difficult uphill battle, and they need our love and support. She has a severe traumatic brain injury and faces months if not years of painful rehab and a lifetime of trauma and grief therapy. Even with insurance, long term care of this kind is an immense financial burden. Her care team estimates that her family should expect her care to cost as much as $500,000.

April’s friends are coming together from across the country to support her and her family as they navigate the long road ahead. Most immediately, this means raising funds to help cover the costs of April’s mortgage and ongoing expenses while she battles for her life in the hospital.

Ways you can help:

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Who April is

April is a tough cookie with a kind heart. She’s the friend who takes time off from work if you’re passing through town and then fights to pay for lunch. She’s the doting aunt who talks about her niece and nephew nonstop. She’s the dog mom who adopts the ten-year-old rescue mutt everyone else walked past. April is the kind of person who builds community everywhere she goes, from NH, to Boston, to Altoona, PA. She’s the kind of person who never hesitates to help someone in need, and now she needs us to come together and support her.

Irresistably cute Asher, who was also killed

April was raised by the most wonderful and generous people. Her mother immigrated from South Korea in the 1980s. Between long shifts at a restaurant, she still found time to cook bulgogi and sticky rice for everyone who entered her home. April’s dad is a Coast Guard veteran who saved lives in the early 1990s during a deadly Nor’easter - a storm so dangerous it was later turned into the book and movie, The Perfect Storm. April is a beloved daughter, sister, friend, and auntie.

April and Emir had enjoyed almost twenty years together and had loved building lives and communities together in Boston and Pittsburgh. They enjoyed good food, friends, laughter, and being dedicated pet parents to a menagerie of cats, reptiles, and rescue dogs. Recently, she and Emir had adopted their puppy Asher, a rescue who they enjoyed spoiling and dressing in cute clothes.

About ten years ago Emir began struggling with symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; April was the financial breadwinner and primary support system for him while they worked to manage his condition. April’s friends knew Emir as a kind, thoughtful, teddy bear of a guy who was protective of his loved ones; they knew very little about his recent health struggles. Despite April’s efforts to help him, our country’s complex, fractured mental health system failed them both. She was working tirelessly to help Emir find new care providers when this shooting took place.

What she will wake up to

When April wakes, she will learn that her beloved husband and dog are gone, and she will begin a physical recovery expected to take six months to a year. She may not be able to return to her home or her job. In the meantime, she will have piles of everyday expenses waiting for her, in addition to the many medical bills – hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth, after health insurance- that her treatment will incur. She will face all of it, and the traumatic grief of this experience, at once. April devoted herself to supporting her husband through his struggle with illness, and now she and her family need our help through her recovery.

How your gift helps

April’s care team expects a long, expensive, and painful road to recovery. They estimate it could cost $500,000 or more, creating insurmountable debt for herself and her parents. This kind of debt could wipe out an entire family and their generational support network, and that’s where she needs you to step in.

Right now, we are raising funds to make sure April’s parents have the resources they need to give her life-saving medical care over the next one to two months.

Funds will help cover:

April’s needs will continue for months, so a monthly gift makes a real difference. One-time gifts matter just as much.

April, we love you, and we’re with you every step.

With love,

Evelyn, Beth, Erica, Emily, Adriane, Liz, Victoria, Dina, and all of April’s friends