Rally for Earl's Recovery and Medical Bills

My brother, Earl has always been a fighter, but nothing could have prepared him or our family and his two sons for what happened.

On February 7th, Earl was admitted to the hospital for observation due to a high fever and seizures. Two days later on 2/9/25 during the Super Bowl, despite standard protocols that require patients to be NPO (no food by mouth) to prevent choking or seizures during observation, a nurse gave him a large potassium tablet. Earl choked, went into full cardiac arrest, and his life changed forever. After 5 min they revived him but that was not the end but the beginning of a long journey of fighting for his life.

If the hospital had followed seizure protocol, he would not have choked. Causing the course of his hospitalization to change from identifying a root cause of his observation they caused him to fight for his life.

Earl was brought back from the brink of death, but he was not the same. Broken ribs, lung damage, and more was to come.

Intubated on and off for more than 40 days in the ICU, Earl’s body has atrophied significantly. He’s had to relearn how to stand, walk, and perform even the most basic movements. His journey to recovery is long and grueling.

But the heartbreak didn’t end there. After being taken off the ventilator, he was moved back to the med-surge unit, still NPO. Shockingly, the first nurse on duty gave him a huge plate of food—an oversight that could have had fatal consequences. Within a day, Earl developed pneumonia, which doctors and nurses initially blamed on him, despite his admission being due to fever-induced seizures. This kind of patient shaming was deeply hurtful.

The hospital’s negligence didn’t stop.

They performed a bronchoscopy and returned Earl to the med-surge floor, only to have his oxygen levels plummet, forcing him back into the ICU for another round of ventilation. He endured over 40 days with an NG feeding tube and underwent dialysis as his kidneys began to fail. Even when a tracheotomy was deemed necessary, they waited until his kidneys were critically compromised. Then he was diagnosed with hospital acquired C-Diff (From nurses not adequately using PPE to prevent cross contamination to the patient.) Several blood transfusions due to low hemoglobin and more. He slowly gained back enough health to be transferred to a sub acute facility.

Only after he was transferred to another hospital did we learn he had VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci), a resistant infection that the original hospital failed to diagnose. This was causing the majority of his issues and low hemoglobin.

Earl has made small but powerful steps toward recovery—he walked with a walker for the first time two weeks ago. However, he faces a long road ahead, with overwhelming medical bills and regular living expenses piling up. His disability benefits barely make a dent, and our family is financially exhausted. We need a miracle.

We are asking for your support. Any amount, big or small, will make a difference in helping Earl on his path to recovery and covering his mounting expenses. We also welcome any recommendations for medical negligence lawyers.

My brother's family is deeply in shock and is praying for full recovery - I also ask that you pray for his recovery.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity, prayers, and support during this unimaginably difficult time.