•May 28, 2025•

On July 19th from 6:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the Lovington Firehouse, the Gary Davis pancake breakfast and silent auction will be held. This event is open to all friends and family of Gary, as well as the public.

Gary went to Springfield Memorial Hospital on March 31st for a video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) to remove a carcinoma asbestos cell on his right lung. The surgeon was unable to complete the VATS procedure and had to use the traditional thoracotomy surgery, a much larger, open incision, to remove the cancerous cell and entire lobe of the lung. During recovery, Gary developed hospital-acquired pneumonia and required a ventilator to breathe. He has remained at Springfield Memorial Hospital since March 31st and is still requiring ventilator support.

Moving forward, Gary will need to be placed in a long-term acute care hospital (LTACH), which specializes in weaning ventilator-dependent patients off a ventilator in hopes of resuming a normal life. His daughter, Nikki Trower, is his primary caregiver and lives 30 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee, with her husband and two small children. For this reason, the family would like to move Gary to Regional One LTACH in Memphis to ensure he has family support while working towards breathing on his own again. In addition to family support, this facility has a 97% success rate in weaning patients from ventilators, with the national average only 52.8%. Insurance will not cover transportation from Springfield to Memphis.

All proceeds will be used to cover the transportation costs as well as the medical bills incurred during his lengthy hospital stay. To donate silent auction items, contact Nikki Trower at (217) 521-7267, Kelly Creek at (217) 521-7422, or Pam Anklam at (217) 201-0662. Money can also be sent by PayPal at www.sparrows-unlimited.com, and put “Davis benefit” in the description field.