Milestone Donor Spotlight: Celebrating 30 Years of Generosity

When Tom Morgan and Erna Morgan McReynolds traveled from their home in Franklin, NY, to London, England, in 2024, they could never have imagined what was about to unfold. Erna would find herself fighting for a flight back home to save her husband’s life.

It was September 21, and Tom and Erna were on their way to an outdoor play in London when Tom felt tremendous pain in his shoulders and neck. He told his wife he needed to get to a hospital. From there, Tom has no recollection of what happened. He spent the next three weeks in a medically-induced coma, on a ventilator to help him breathe, and on dialysis due to kidney failure. The eventual diagnosis was septic shock, caused by his body’s extreme reaction to an unknown infection.

“I was in constant contact with our physicians at Bassett and with their help, I was able to connect Bassett Medical Center’s intensive care doctors with the team handling Tom’s care in the London hospital,” recalls Erna. Simultaneously, she was investigating the possibility of chartering an air ambulance to fly her critically ill husband from the United Kingdom back home to Cooperstown, where their trusted doctors were.

Trusting in Bassett

With no improvement in her husband’s condition, Erna was finally able to secure an emergency medical flight for Tom, who was still in a coma and on a ventilator. In mid-October, the air ambulance landed in Albany, NY, and an hour and a half later, Tom was admitted to Bassett Medical Center’s intensive care unit (ICU).

“He was still very much fighting for his life and extremely weak, having been on a ventilator for so long,” remembers Dr. Brian Frodey, who oversaw much of Tom’s care while he was in the ICU. “Our goal was to get him off as many medications as possible, off the ventilator, breathing on his own, and able to tolerate much-needed nutrition.”

The task was complex given Tom’s condition, but within just a few days of arriving in Cooperstown, he was off the ventilator and out of the coma. The feeding tube was removed so he could begin taking more substantial nourishment, and his kidney function returned. A week later, he was transferred from intensive care to a step-down unit where his recovery was overseen by Dr. Kai Mebust, Chief of Internal Medicine at Bassett Medical Center.

“Myopathy of critical illness is what we were dealing with at the time Tom entered my care,” explains Dr. Mebust. “He was able to move only his fingers and toes due to extreme muscle weakness. But I saw nothing on imaging and other tests that showed he couldn’t overcome this. He needed good physical therapy (PT), but PT when you are that sick is like boot camp, so I needed to make a connection, give him confidence and inspiration.”

“I felt I would be a vegetable,” says Tom. “I could barely move my limbs. Dr. Mebust looked at me dead in the eyes and assured me I would regain full function. His message was so timely – reassurance when I needed it most.”

Tom continued to make good progress and was eventually transferred to the short-term rehabilitation unit at O’Connor Hospital in Delhi, one of five hospitals in the Bassett Healthcare Network.

“You can’t begin to address how great the rehab program and staff are at O’Connor Hospital,” remarks Erna. “Tom was there for a month. They have three shifts, and each staff member was on top of his care.”

“We love Bassett,” says Tom.

“What would we do without it?” asks Erna, who herself has a heart condition. “Bassett has saved both our lives – Tom’s multiple times.”

Decades of Lifesaving Care

Tom Morgan’s life was first saved by Bassett more than 20 years ago. “I flatlined in the cardiac catheterization laboratory three times,” says Morgan. “I’m told there were four people working on me and the lead physician wouldn’t give up, saying, ‘God damn it, you’re not going to die on me Morgan!’ as he thumped on my chest.”

The year was 2004 and the Bassett Heart Care Institute had just opened its doors to patients. In fact, Morgan was its very first patient. He has since had bypass surgery and has undergone numerous cardiac stent placements to open clogged arteries and improve blood flow to his heart.

In the 1990s, Tom and Erna established The Tom Morgan and Erna J. Morgan McReynolds Charitable Foundation as a way of giving back. A variety of community programs and facilities have benefited from their generosity. In the Bassett network, these include the Bassett Heart Care Institute, Bassett’s School-Based Health Program, A.O. Fox Hospital, and Hannah-Lee House.

“We have found Bassett to be big enough to attract quality doctors and caregivers, but small enough to keep the lines of communication open,” observes Tom. “Our health, and that of so many other individuals and families, has benefited. I hope our Foundation is giving to various local causes and Bassett 100 years from now.”