GoFundMe started for woman injured in Altoona shooting
Manals critically injured in attempted murder-suicide
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Friends of an Altoona woman who is in a coma in Pittsburgh after her husband shot her, then killed himself at their home on Oct. 5, have created a GoFundMe page to help with her expenses.
April (Summers) Manals is dealing with a life-threatening, traumatic brain injury and facing "months if not years of painful rehab and a lifetime of trauma and grief therapy," according to a narrative on the GoFundMe page, titled, "Stand with April after Tragic Shooting."
"April is a tough cookie with a kind heart," the GoFundMe page states. "She's the friend who takes time off from work if you're passing through town and then fights to pay for lunch. She's the doting aunt who talks about her niece and nephew nonstop. She's the dog mom who adopts the 10-year-old rescue mutt everyone else walked past."
The daughter of a South Korean immigrant mother and a Coast Guard veteran father, April grew up in New Hampshire, and was with Emir Manals for the last 20 years, marrying him about 10 years ago, around the time they moved to Pittsburgh -- which was also about when Emir began showing signs of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to the GoFundMe and Erica Laue of New Hampshire, one of the co-organizers of the GoFundMe, who spoke to the Mirror by phone Monday.
"April was the financial breadwinner and primary support system for him while they worked to manage his condition," the narrative states.
"It was not an easy diagnosis to live with and love someone through," Laue said. "But they were trying to work things through together."
April and Laue were one of several friends from Lee, N.H., who bonded starting in middle school and who remain connected even now, said Laue, 40.
They called themselves Cafe Amis and had several goofy traditions like Laughing Cow Day, June 26, when each of them would wear purple, eat chocolate banana cream pie and say "moo ha ha" to one another, Laue said.
The friends are not only dealing with sadness about April, but about Emir, too, whom they loved, Laue said.
"He was a sweet, generous guy" -- "a teddy bear," she said. "And he fiercely loved April."
"If he were not in the midst of a psychotic episode, he never would have done (what he did)," Laue said.
What happened has created "layers of grief" for them, she said.
The couple had moved to Altoona within the past year, and Emir was "in between (therapy) providers," Laue said.
"That was the driving factor in what happened," she said.
April had been working to find new providers, the narrative states. "(O)ur country's complex, fractured mental health system failed them both."
The couple's beloved dog, Asher, was also killed in the incident.
When April wakes up, she'll realize her husband and her dog are gone, and she'll face a physical recovery period of six to 12 months, according to the GoFundMe.
She may be unable to return to her home or her job, and she'll have many bills, including non-medical ones, according to the narrative. The medical bills alone could run to $500,000.
The GoFundMe organizers hope the money they raise will help cover up to a year of mortgage payments and storage bills; medical bills not paid by insurance; inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation bills; and bills for trauma and grief therapy, along with ongoing living expenses.
As of Monday evening, the effort had raised $16,800.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.