North Huntingdon woman raises money for Excela staff who saved her husband from covid-19

After her high school sweetheart spent 20 days hospitalized on a ventilator, Karyl Nicholas of North Huntingdon was relieved to finally talk to him by phone.

The day the tube was removed — April 19 — is a bright spot in what has been nerve-wracking weeks for the family of Mark Nicholas, 62, after he tested positive for the coronavirus last month.

“It’s very difficult to be isolated from him,” Karyl Nicholas said.

While there isn’t much she can do right now to help care for her husband, Karyl Nicholas is directing her efforts to those on the front lines at Excela Health during the coronavirus pandemic. She started a GoFundMe online donation page to raise money for the health system’s pandemic response fund as a way to say thanks and to raise awareness.

“I felt helpless because what could I do for him?” she said.

Her husband was otherwise healthy, didn’t have any underlying conditions and hadn’t traveled before getting sick.

“We’re all susceptible to the virus,” she said.

More than 350 community members, organizations and businesses donated money and items during the pandemic to Excela and its pandemic response fund, which aims to provide personal protection equipment and cleaning supplies to workers. The Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation recently provided an emergency $200,000 grant to the health system, according to a news release.

Excela Health spent close to $1 million on additional protective equipment and on expanding capabilities for coronavirus patients, who need negative air pressure rooms for safe treatment, said John Sphon, chief executive officer.

“We are immensely grateful to the foundation and our community for recognizing and responding to these needs,” he said in a statement.

The Excela Health foundation has received about $225,000 in monetary donations, said Al Novak, chief development officer. More donations have come in the form of baby monitors to help workers keep tabs on coronavirus patients and meals through local restaurants for clinicians, he said.

“It’s enormous what the community has done for us,” he said.

The donation page Karyl Nicholas started raised $10,345 as of Tuesday evening, surpassing its $10,000 goal. She upped the amount after blowing by the original goal of $7,500 in just a few days.

Mark Nicholas had a slight cough March 16. A few days later, he became extremely fatigued and had body aches, his wife said. He tested positive March 20, one of the first in Westmoreland County. Eight days later, he was admitted to Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital with pneumonia.

His condition deteriorated March 31, and he was put on a ventilator. He has since been moved into a step-down unit at Excela Health Latrobe Hospital, Karyl Nicholas said.

“I’m keeping really good records because I want him to know when it’s all said and done,” she said.

She eventually tested positive, too, but had far milder symptoms. The couple, married for 41 years, has two adult children with their first grandchild on the way.

The family is grateful for the team of doctors and nurses who helped Mark Nicholas fight back, she said. Those workers are going to need continued support because prices for protective equipment have skyrocketed, Novak said. A gown that used to cost 52 cents now carries a $7 price tag.

“That’s the challenge we face even as we move forward to opening up; the need is not going to end,” he said. “In fact, the need probably will be greater.”

The health system, in return, is grateful for people like Karyl Nicholas who have shown support and others who will in the future.

“I admire her; I admire her courage,” Novak said.

Karyl Nicholas said she doesn’t know where her husband was exposed to the virus — it could have been at a spot in the community, such as a grocery store or gas station.

“I guess we will never know,” she said.