My Father, John M. Sullivan, died in my arms on Wednesday July 30th at 9:30am at UPMC Williamsport Hospital, due to the negligence of a nurse that was charged with his care. This hospital tried to cover it up despite nine employed witnesses being in the room. His family is now responsible for the cost incurred by a private autopsy and investigation, plus funeral expenses. The minimum cost of these things is $8,200 with a likely cost of $8,700+ pending medical examination and other necessary testing. (Update on 9/12/25 - We found out several weeks ago that we'll have an addition $4,000-$10,000 legal costs for the documents we need to file our charges.)

Please read his story and donate, share, and pray if you're able. My Dad deserved a better ending and a more accurate representation of the truth - We're going to do all we can to make sure he gets that.

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Wednesday morning (July 30, 2025) at 9:10am, we arrived at UPMC Williamsport to spend the day with my Dad and he was actively choking and aspirating on strawberry applesauce and medication that an RN had given him irresponsibly.

He was on a strict aspiration prevention plan that included oral care, prompted swallowing x 3 for each bite and and observed completion of each bite. That day, specifically, he was ordered to have nothing by mouth (NPO) in preparation for a scan he was scheduled to have later in the day.

I did all the things that speech and respiratory therapy had taught me. I suctioned him, coached him, cleared his throat. The nurse fiddled with a BP cuff and finally called rapid response. The respiratory therapist came and suctioned his lungs but it was too late.

He stopped choking and died in my arms. They called his time of death at 9:30am. I was holding him so tightly, my heart was beating through his chest and into the stethoscope. My only comfort is that my face was the last face he saw and my words were the last he heard. We were surrounded by medical professionals who witnessed this event.

He was 10 feet away from the nurses station. They could've seen him if they turned their heads. She stuffed his mouth with applesauce and pills and walked out.

Thursday, July 31st was the first day I woke up without a father and I have been forever changed. I've been changed by the trauma and fear of his last few minutes on this earth. I've been changed by the last 40 days - I've had the greatest honor of loving my father back to life in the face of others who would treat his life's blessing as a burden and do nothing but cause more harm.

I viewed the death certificate on Thursday and the cause of death is listed as a gallbladder infection...

His family now has to pay for a private autopsy in addition to his funeral expenses. We need help with this. His death certificate should be changed to accurately depict what happened that morning and how his life ended.

To my Dad: I will spend the rest of my life trying to make this right. You rest now. I'll take it from here.

Click here to read about John's life

August 7th update:

$4,500 autopsy (paid- see below)

$130 additional pathology

$3,700 funeral

$$? Undisclosed additional transportation costs

**Realized that GoFundMe does a thing to build momentum where the initial goal is only part of what you've set as the end goal! So my end goal is $8,200 (has since increased a little bit for pathology and transportation) but the platform just shows $4,000 as the initial goal! Sharing in transparency!**