Business
‘She Is a Very Compassionate Person’: New Canaanites Rally Around Local Business Owner Recovering from Aneurysm, Stroke
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New Canaanites are rallying around a longtime local business owner who last month suffered a near-fatal aneurysm and stroke. Beth McCarthy, who founded Aetheria Spa on Cherry Street 11 years ago, on July 17 complained of a headache and then collapsed on her floor at home in Bridgeport, according to her brother Robert Skoglund, who recently launched GoFundMe page for his sister and family. McCarthy narrowly survived the stroke— her husband, John, likely saved her life by performing CPR until EMTs arrived—then fell into a coma at Yale University Medical Center and was breathing with help from a ventilator before she began to recover slowly in recent days, Skoglund said. A visible young woman in town who participates and supports multiple community causes and has served on the Board of Directors for the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, McCarthy, 46, is medically insured though her bills are “starting to pile up,” her brother Robert Skoglund said. Costs associated with her recovery could go into the millions, he said, and though McCarthy is insured, the coverage is “far from 100 percent,” while her out-of-pocket expenses continue to mount.