Howard Bass, 68, is a husband of 42 years to Ruby, and a father to his 26 year old daughter Rebecca. He has spent the last 38 days in the hospital enduring a complicated and mysterious neurological illness, for which his medical team still have no diagnosis.

He is in critical condition in the neurology ICU at Westchester Medical Center and has been in a coma for over a week, on a ventilator and feeding tube. While we are doing everything we can to advocate for his care, wait for testing that leads to a diagnosis, and attempt life saving surgeries and treatments, as of right now, there is no clear path forward for recovery.

At the end of June, Howie experienced a sudden onset of a rapidly progressing illness that impacted his brain and cognitive function, and ability to talk, walk and eat. After extensive and repeated cat scans, MRIs, lumbar punctures and blood tests, all results have been inconclusive. While we are still currently pursuing treatments, we have had to broach impossible conversations about transitioning Howie to comfort care so he can live as comfortably as possible until he passes on.

We know this is shocking, devastating and impossible to understand. At this time, we ask that you will respect our family’s wishes and know that we are making the best possible decisions to honor Howie’s values.

We’re asking for help to raise funds to cover:

Howie is our entire world, and anyone who knows him knows how intelligent, creative, warm, and goofy he is. Up until this tragic experience, Howie walked a few miles a day with his wife Ruby, loves spending time with his daughter Rebecca and her partner Vincent, and is a beloved brother, friend, uncle, cousin, and honorary grandpa to so many babies and children that he adores.

He enjoys cooking at home, traveling and having long discussions about literature and physics with his friends and neighbors while swimming at the local pool in Emerald Green. Howie has always been bewildered by the mysteries of the universe, and this is his biggest mystery yet. Any donation, big or small, means the world to our family during this difficult time.