Support Scott McMorrow's Family Medical Needs

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS - The Beatles

You might know Scott McMorrow because he used to wear silly hats in town.

You might know Scott because he was a local volunteer firefighter/trained EMT for many years, going on nearly 150 calls a year. He brought comfort to the sick and dignity to the dead. You might know him from his time volunteering on the school board and the Dance Palace Board, or from various West Marin libraries where he worked, or even from youth soccer which he coached way back when. You might know him from his years as the general manager of IPUD or from Flood Control at Marin County. You might remember the radio shows he hosted at KWMR or the plays he produced, like the local production of Lysistrata at the Dance Palace.

In December 2019, at age 58, Scott survived two massive strokes, first an ischemic and then a hemorrhagic (basically, a clot and a bleed), that left him permanently paralyzed on one side and with irreversible damage to parts of his brain as well as a host of other physical problems. Sometimes, it feels like a new one every day.

His neurologist at UCSF told his wife in the ICU when Scott was still hooked up to multiple beeping machines that he would not wish the situation on his worst enemy.

There were no warning signs prior to the strokes. He had been a healthy and active community member of West Marin and a doting and devoted father of three. He’d gone on a nine-mile hike the weekend before with his 12-year-old son.

Scott had a craniectomy and three months later a craniotomy, and his skull was held together with 66 staples. In the last 57 months, he has suffered two additional frightening TIA’s (basically, mini strokes). He can do zero ADLs (activities of daily living) on his own. (Imagine anything you do without thinking: dress, bathe, put toothpaste on your brush, tie your shoes, get in/out of bed or in and out of a car or in and out of a chair…those are ADLs.)

His wife of 28 years has been his primary caregiver for 57 months. He is in daily pain. He has uncontrollable tremors. He cannot be left alone safely. He spends most of his day in his hospital bed or in a specialized recliner.

You might remember that Scott was often the first to volunteer, went on countless field trips, showed up to move everything from rocks to hay bales.

You might not know that Scott has driven city buses, firetrucks, and tanks. He was born on the east coast and was a commercial swordfisherman for 8 years out of high school. He put himself through engineering school by working multiple jobs from line cook to nighttime security. He was commissioned into the Massachusetts National Guard as a second lieutenant, and he is a trained army combat medic. After college, he joined the IRC (The International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian aide organization) and went to Tblisi, where he helped bring fresh water and housing to internally displaced persons (and spent $12 a minute calling the girlfriend who would become his wife). In his 30s, Scott returned to graduate school and earned an MFA is creative writing from SFSU. With that he obtained a teaching job at a community college. His stage plays have been performed off-off-Broadway, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and even in Bologna. He once won a short-play contest for a one-page play. He donated the $1,000 prize to a women’s shelter.

Since the strokes, Scott has discovered a passion for painting and birding and he combines these two loves by painting birds.

While Scott’s wife and father-in-law do a lion’s share of the caregiving, they need more outside help to keep up with the intensity of his round-the-clock care. His help costs $40 an hour. This year, the cost of his aide will be over $70,000. His family is extremely grateful for the generous support of this miraculous community.