SALEM, Va. – Gary Musser has been living in Elliston his entire life. This year, his holiday has been harder than normal.
“I’m going through a lot of sickness in my family and there is hospitalization, real bad health, and we’re all worried about Christmas,” Musser said.
Musser himself has been receiving care since before Thanksgiving. He said with everything going on, it has been hard to get into the holiday spirit.
“I needed a pick me up—something to put me on the right track,” said Musser.
When the crew at LewisGale in Salem heard about Musser’s struggles, they wanted to support him through the difficult time.
They have been supporting him throughout the entire holiday season but for Christmas, they wanted to do a little extra and get him a few presents.
“Some of just the essentials,” said Rachael Poff, a physician assistant at LewisGale. “Some toiletries, and we were able to give him some money to use towards getting some food.”
They also said for someone as kind as Musser, it’s an easy decision to help.
“Just meeting Mr. Musser you can just tell what kind of person he is,” said Alma Dellinger, a physician assistant at LewisGale. “He is very genuine, just a very sweet man.”
Musser said this act of kindness has sparked him into the holiday spirit, and that he has some catching up to do before Dec. 25.
“It’s put me in a different mood for Christmas,” Musser said. “I have a few presents I think I’m going to wrap. I’m in the mood to do it now.”
Musser said he never imagined hospital staff going this far to support a patient.