Long Island Family Raising Funds to Overcome Mounting Medical Bills

A Long Island family is rallying around their brother to help him pay for medical treatment as an illness is forcing him out of work.

Family members say Francis Rapp, a 42-year-old Baldwin resident who grew up in Lynbrook, is the kind of person who tends to put others first. But now they are helping Francis when the stakes are high as he has spent most of the last six months hospitalized, coping with the debilitating effects of Lupus.

His siblings have set up a GoFundMe page, hoping to help offset the medical expenses for daily dialysis and plasmapheresis treatment.

Their efforts come on the heels of additional sorrow for the Rapp family, having recently lost both a brother and a nephew.

But the Rapps have always stayed positive and shown strength even in their biggest hurdles, as they are doing now.

The family describes Francis – or "Fran," as they affectionately call him –  as someone who has spent his life going  “above and beyond for someone else” without ever asking for anything in return.

“Fran is one of the strongest and most determined men that we know," the extended Rapp family wrote on GoFundMe. "Fran would never miss a day of work because he was not feeling at his best, he has always fought through illness with a heroic effort, many times using humor to get through the pain. Sadly, Fran’s condition has severely worsened due to several varying complications….”

“While Francis battles to overcome these medical obstacles, his biggest supporters are his son, Francis Junior; daughter, Kaitlyn; and above all his wife, Lynn. Each and every day they sit by his hospital bedside helping him through all of the trying moments,” the family added. “And despite the various procedures and discomforts, Fran would tell you that the hardest part has been not being able to root on Francis Jr. during his college baseball games and Kaitlyn during her high school lacrosse games - like he used to.”

Hoping to raise $100,000 in total, in just six days the family has already raised $26,499 raised by 163 people.

To make a donation, visit the Rapp's GoFundMe page.

The Rapps say all all money raised will go “directly to Fran, Lynn, Francis Jr. and Kaitlyn, to cover their mounting medical bills and anything else that they may need during this difficult time.”