LEWISTON — When Linda Scott came home from work March 7, her husband, Steve, 47, was in severe pain.

Thirty hours later the mason for a bricklayers union in the Boston area was undergoing the first of seven surgeries and was diagnosed with a severe infection of the pancreas.

“The cause, they’re not sure,” his wife said.

As of Thursday, he remained in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit of Central Maine Medical Center. He’s on life support for nutrition.

“He can’t eat,” said Linda, an educational technician at Sandcastle Clinical & Educational Services, an early childhood education center in Lewiston.

 Since he became sick, life has been put on hold, including their paychecks.

“Our income has completely stopped,” Linda said. “There’s no way I’m leaving Steve’s side.”

She’s abandoned plans to run for the Legislature.

She said Steve has good health insurance, but it won’t cover everything.

To help with expenses, a “Believe in Steve” benefit breakfast will be held from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at The Green Ladle at the Lewiston Regional Technical Center, 156 East Ave. It will be hosted by the Lewiston School Committee, of which Linda is chairwoman.

“This is being done to show our support for the Scott family,” Superintendent Bill Webster said. “This reflects an appreciation for all the tireless work that Linda has done serving on the Lewiston School Committee.”

There will be no cost to taxpayers. After the cost of food is covered, proceeds will benefit the family. Organizers hope 1,000 people will attend, which could raise $5,000.

There will be raffles.

“Steve loves raffles,” Linda said. “My husband tends to spend a lot of money on raffles. He always tells me, ‘I’m supporting the kids.'”

 

The back story

Linda and Steve met in 1986 when she was 18, working at Burger King in Lewiston. He was 17, applying for a job.

He came in on a June day and asked for an application.

“I thought he was very cute,” she said. “I flirted with him.”

They started dating. At Christmas he proposed.

“He told me I would be with him for the rest of his life and he knew that for a fact,” she said.

They married in May 1987 and eventually became the parents of three children.

Because, in part, they married so young, things were rough at times, Linda said.

“Whenever I got worried or anxious about bills or the kids being sick, he said, ‘Don’t worry about it. Believe in Steve.’ It’s been his thing.”

He often sent her notes of encouragement.

“He says things like, ‘A confident Linda is a strong Linda. A confident Linda can rule the world.’”

When he was first hospitalized in a coma-like state, she said, “I wrote on his dry erase board: ‘Believe in Steve.’ It became our rallying point.”

“Believe in Steve” posters were hung in the ward. The ICU staff started calling themselves “Team Steve,” Linda said.

In mid-March, social media/community cheerleader Heidi Sawyer posted on the “Lewiston Rocks” Facebook page that there would be a “Believe in Steve” benefit breakfast April 2. Hundreds responded.

The community is rallying around the family, donating items for the raffles, bringing dinners to the hospital and sharing support, Sawyer said. It illustrates the community has caring and generous people, she said.

Linda said she and Steve believe in giving back, “but it never crosses your mind that someday you’re going to be in a situation where all these people are going to help you,” she said. “It’s been extremely overwhelming. It has literally gotten me through these last four weeks.”

 

Long way to recovery

 

In the last week Steve, who’s been heavily sedated and unable to talk, has started to communicate.

“I knew my husband was back when he wrote, ‘Apparently they have no intentions of feeding me in here!’ That’s my witty Steve,” she said.

He faces a long road to recovery.

“There’s hope. He’s getting better,” Linda said. “The doctors told us they hope he’ll be walking around and out of the hospital by July 4. He’s that sick.”

Before he got sick, Linda said, he was strong and physically active. Part of his mason talent is restoring historic buildings. One of his jobs was restoring brownstone at the Vanderbilt Mansion in Newport, R.I. He’s also built many chimneys, brick steps and schools.

For someone his age and shape, how the infection hit him was a shock, she said.

“You have to take every day and be thankful for what you have,” Linda said. “Hug the people you love, because you just do not know.”

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Benefit breakfast, what you need to know