Marsha's Recovery Fund
Donation protected
As many of you may already know, my mother, Marsha Summers was violently attacked in her home by my brother Ben, who suffers from episodes of severe psychosis, and possible schizophrenia.
She fought like hell to save her own life, and now it's our turn to do the same to make sure she has all she needs on this long road to recovery.
Anyone that knows her will agree, that my brother and I are her whole world. When Ben had his first psychotic break in January of 2019, he completely severed off his left hand intentionally in an attempt to commit suicide. Once we got to him in the hospital she never left his side for months while multiple teams of doctors performed the first ever successful hand replant in Palm county Florida. Once out of the hospital, without any hesitation, she opened her home to him and wanted nothing more than to provide a safe place for him to live. She never thought he would hurt her. He is her son, she loves him, and that's all that mattered.
The story is not easy to read, it's heartbreaking to write, and the words don't exist to describe what it's like to live it. However, we want the story to be told in hopes that if someone who's reading this is fighting the beast of mental illness, or loves somebody who is, please KEEP FIGHTING, and reach out for all the help you can find.
On March 14th 2021, around midnight, a detective knocked on our door with a note telling me to call the Sarasota police, it was about my mom. My mind immediately went to Ben. The story of that day is beyond a living nightmare.
Earlier that day, my mom came home from her pottery class and from what we now know, Ben had the attack planned. She was cornered into her bathroom where she was viciously beaten, bitten on her neck and right forearm, strangled, and stomped on, and then the toxic cleaner CLR (acid) was poured into her wounds, on her face, and in her eyes. My brother was in a full blown psychotic rage, and he made it verbally clear, his intentions were to kill her. This all went on for the course of an hour.
At some point during this, he also intentionally stabbed his dog Owyn in the chest. Thankfully, after some stiches and medication, Owyn has recovered and will be living with us from here on out.
Ben was in the parking lot trying to leave when police arrived on the scene and were able to apprehend him. He is currently in the Manatee County jail with no bond, charged with premeditated attempted murder, and multiple other charges.
My mother has been in the hospital since the attack. Countless skin grafts, facial surgeries, and even eye socket reconstruction have been performed. This is just the beginning. She currently has minimal vision in her left eye, but little to none in the right. There are no guarantees as to what her vision will be the future.
She has recently been moved to rehab portion of the hospital where she is learning how to do the everyday things that we take for granted, with what sight she currently has. Once she is discharged, she will move in with my fiancé Laura and I here in Tampa.
Her entire recovery is day to day. We have no idea if she will ever be able to return to work, live on her own, drive a car, or do the things she loves the most - pottery and fishing. We are however just so thankful she is alive!
She fully supports her story being told, with hopes that maybe it can even help save a life. This GoFundMe is being created to raise as much money as we can for her while she goes through this. An account has been set up specifically for her, 100% of all donations will be at her disposal to spend how she sees fit.
I can't say thank you enough to those who have already sent money, and I want to express my gratitude for all of those who plan on donating. Any amount helps, big or small. My mom is a survivor, and quite frankly a badass, but she has a long hard road in front of her. We just want to ease the financial burden as much as we possibly can.
We will continue to update everyone on her progress. She wants everyone to know how grateful she is for all the love and support she has received, it means the world!
She fought like hell to save her own life, and now it's our turn to do the same to make sure she has all she needs on this long road to recovery.
Anyone that knows her will agree, that my brother and I are her whole world. When Ben had his first psychotic break in January of 2019, he completely severed off his left hand intentionally in an attempt to commit suicide. Once we got to him in the hospital she never left his side for months while multiple teams of doctors performed the first ever successful hand replant in Palm county Florida. Once out of the hospital, without any hesitation, she opened her home to him and wanted nothing more than to provide a safe place for him to live. She never thought he would hurt her. He is her son, she loves him, and that's all that mattered.
The story is not easy to read, it's heartbreaking to write, and the words don't exist to describe what it's like to live it. However, we want the story to be told in hopes that if someone who's reading this is fighting the beast of mental illness, or loves somebody who is, please KEEP FIGHTING, and reach out for all the help you can find.
On March 14th 2021, around midnight, a detective knocked on our door with a note telling me to call the Sarasota police, it was about my mom. My mind immediately went to Ben. The story of that day is beyond a living nightmare.
Earlier that day, my mom came home from her pottery class and from what we now know, Ben had the attack planned. She was cornered into her bathroom where she was viciously beaten, bitten on her neck and right forearm, strangled, and stomped on, and then the toxic cleaner CLR (acid) was poured into her wounds, on her face, and in her eyes. My brother was in a full blown psychotic rage, and he made it verbally clear, his intentions were to kill her. This all went on for the course of an hour.
At some point during this, he also intentionally stabbed his dog Owyn in the chest. Thankfully, after some stiches and medication, Owyn has recovered and will be living with us from here on out.
Ben was in the parking lot trying to leave when police arrived on the scene and were able to apprehend him. He is currently in the Manatee County jail with no bond, charged with premeditated attempted murder, and multiple other charges.
My mother has been in the hospital since the attack. Countless skin grafts, facial surgeries, and even eye socket reconstruction have been performed. This is just the beginning. She currently has minimal vision in her left eye, but little to none in the right. There are no guarantees as to what her vision will be the future.
She has recently been moved to rehab portion of the hospital where she is learning how to do the everyday things that we take for granted, with what sight she currently has. Once she is discharged, she will move in with my fiancé Laura and I here in Tampa.
Her entire recovery is day to day. We have no idea if she will ever be able to return to work, live on her own, drive a car, or do the things she loves the most - pottery and fishing. We are however just so thankful she is alive!
She fully supports her story being told, with hopes that maybe it can even help save a life. This GoFundMe is being created to raise as much money as we can for her while she goes through this. An account has been set up specifically for her, 100% of all donations will be at her disposal to spend how she sees fit.
I can't say thank you enough to those who have already sent money, and I want to express my gratitude for all of those who plan on donating. Any amount helps, big or small. My mom is a survivor, and quite frankly a badass, but she has a long hard road in front of her. We just want to ease the financial burden as much as we possibly can.
We will continue to update everyone on her progress. She wants everyone to know how grateful she is for all the love and support she has received, it means the world!
Organizer
Jeremy Summers
Organizer
Tampa, FL