Father's Day Fundraiser
Chico native Casey Smyth recently survived a life-threatening infection that required multiple surgeries and amputations. After spending the first three months of this year in the hospital he has now returned home to his wife, Kelli, and two sons, Cooper and Tanner, and continues to recover.
Casey is a devoted husband and father who has fought and continues to fight incredibly hard to overcome the challenges placed before him. The financial burden of the adversity Casey has faced and will face is tremendous. To help support, Upper Park will be donating 40% of all proceeds on retail merchandise sold between June 10th, 2025 and June 16th, 2025 to the Smyth family.
Contributing Funds
On top of extensive medical bills and the upcoming expenses of Casey’s rehabilitation process, they will need to look toward making their home fully ADA-accessible, as well as prosthetics which allow Casey to return to an active life with his boys. All donated funds are going directly toward the aforementioned needs.
Prosthetic limbs, of which Casey will require four, are estimated to range in cost from $10,000- $70,000. The average cost of making a home ADA-accessible is approximately $5,000, while the lifetime costs of rehabilitation services, prosthetic purchases, and outpatient services often exceed $500,000.
Our goal is to remove as much of the financial burden from the Smyths as possible as well as to give Casey everything he needs to continue living a full, healthy, and comfortable life. If you would like to donate directly to the fund head over to Gofundme.
Meet The Smyth Family
Written by Doug Dais
The Smyth name has carried serious weight in Chico, California for decades. Steve and Lynn Smyth met at Chico State during their collegiate tenure there in the early ‘70’s, both making their way to the City of Trees to continue their athletic careers. Steve would make his name on the baseball diamond, while Lynn would make hers on the gymnastics mat. Once their playing days were over the two decided to set permanent roots in Chico and were married in 1982. Steve would ultimately open and operate local landmark Smyth Tire Service for decades until his recent retirement, and Lynn was one of the original partners of Athletic Horizons Gymnastics Center. The pair became a central part of the fabric of Chico and solidified this by welcoming their three kids (Casey, Brett, and Jojo), all of whom would follow in their parents’ footsteps and make their names known for their athleticism, and more importantly for their contagious love of life.
Jojo, the youngest of the Smyths, ended up playing two seasons of soccer at City College of San Francisco where she helped her team reach the State Elite Eight during her freshman year and the State Final Four as a sophomore before transferring to Chico State where she was an All-California Collegiate Athletic Association Honorable mention defender on a 2014 squad that fell in the CCAA championship match.
Brett, the middle-man, played basketball at Butte College for two seasons, during one of which he was a member of the 2008 Golden Valley Conference Championship squad, before transferring to and finishing his collegiate career at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.
Casey, the eldest, set the stage and tone for his two younger siblings by being a force to reckon with upon whichever athletic field or court he walked. During his time at Chico High School he racked up seven Varsity Letters, was named All-Section and All-League in football, in baseball he was twice named All-League, once named 2nd Team All-Section, and once 1st Team All-Section, along with also being named the Chico High Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Not only did Casey excel athletically, but he was beloved by teammates and coaches alike. Casey’s elite athletic ability was dwarfed only by his effort and passion. Kevin Dolan, Casey’s Assistant Coach on the Chico High Varsity Basketball team, has this to say about Casey, “He was the toughest player we ever coached. Coaches want players to play hard. Well, Casey rewrote what that meant. Diving on the food for a loose ball is an example. He didn’t just dive on the floor, he dived under the lines on the court and emerged on the other side with the ball. No one else was ever going to get it. Casey is that rare person who arrives before he gets there. There is just a magical presence in the air before Casey bursts through the door with his contagious smile and enthusiasm.”
Mr. Wildcat
After high school, that tenacity and enthusiasm led Casey to Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin to continue his baseball career before transferring to Mendocino College for a season and then ultimately back to Chico where he finished his collegiate playing days for Chico State. There he was an outfielder on the Chico State team that came within one strike of an NCAA Division II National Championship. He played under Coach Lindsay Meggs, as well as Coach Dave Taylor, still head Coach of the Chico State Wildcat baseball squad. Again showing the unique bond Casey formed with his coaches, Casey was named “Mr. Wildcat” during his senior season at Chico State and years later, in 2015, Coach Taylor opened up the old playing field to throw batting practice to Casey and his groomsmen on the day of his wedding.
Casey married another Chico athletic legend in Kelli Payne (now Smyth), who was inducted into the Butte College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017 for her stellar basketball career there a decade prior. Casey and Kelli found in each other the perfect pair of enthusiasm for all things sports and life. Over the span of their marriage you’d be much more likely to find them playing basketball, softball, golf, or pickleball, hunting, fishing, snowboarding, wakeboarding, exercising, traveling, or just bouncing around Chico visiting friends than sitting on their couch at home. They both have a zest for life and are two who have truly and wholly lived life to the fullest. They also have a true and deep bond which led them to do something most couples wouldn’t do on a dare: go into business together. They started the Smyth Husband & Wife Real Estate Team through Next Home North Valley Realty in 2016, through which they have served hundreds of clients with their specialized knowledge of and love for Chico and its surrounding areas.
They correctly decided that the world needed more Smyths and welcomed their first son, Cooper, in 2018, and their second, Tanner, in 2021. The boys, by no surprise, also refuse to sit still and can be found playing every sport Chico has to offer. They fight like crazy, but more importantly they fight for each other like crazy. Their parents’ tenacity and big hearts are evident in both the Smyth boys.
The Beginning of the Infection
The family sold their family home in November 2024 and, while planning their next move, continued their jetsetting ways with a family trip to Hawaii followed by another to Tahoe for some snowboarding and skiing with the rest of the Smyth clan. Upon their return to Chico, Casey began complaining of what he believed were flu-like symptoms, but those symptoms quickly turned serious and on the morning of January 2, 2025 he was rushed to Enloe Medical Center.
The staff there worked diligently to determine the source of Casey’s symptoms while they grew exponentially more serious. It was finally discovered that a viral infection had turned toxic in Casey’s system, ultimately sending him into septic shock. He went into full organ failure and was put on a ventilator and dialysis along with undergoing multiple rounds of surgery attempting to locate the source of the infection. Those attempts were unsuccessful and it was determined that he required transfer to UC Davis Medical Center to undergo more advanced medical treatment. His transfer took place late on the evening of January 4th, via medevac helicopter, and was greeted at Davis by a horde of family and friends so large they would soon force the staff there to rewrite the rules for visitations.
Fighting the Odds
Casey spent the following days fighting like crazy to beat the infection. It was considered medically improbable that he would make it, being given at one point a 4% chance of survival. Casey is tougher than any infection though, and he began showing minor responses to stimuli on January 7. Things were slowly progressing, but on January 11 he coded and required CPR to be brought to life. This was one of many times that doctors referred to Casey as a medical miracle, with one of them referring to him as the toughest patient they’d ever worked with. Finally, on January 15, after 13 days in the hospital and 5 surgeries, prayers were answered and Casey woke. He was stable enough to have his breathing tube removed, he spoke for the first time, and was immediately cracking jokes.
As Kelli and the medical staff helped him understand what the past two weeks had consisted of, how much his body had been through, and how statistically unlikely it was that he was alive after complete organ failure, they also helped him to understand that the vasopressors needed to stabilize his blood pressure have a side effect of vasoconstriction in the extremities and that his extremities had been severely compromised. Amputations were imminent, and in true Casey fashion, rather than focus on what had and would happen to him, he was focused on doing whatever necessary to get back to Kelli and his boys. His words were that he was “ready for surgery and whatever comes with it.”
On January 30, Casey went into surgery, his eighth in 29 days, for his first round of amputations. According to Kelli, “He wore his Badgers hat in, thanking the staff for their incredible care and reminding them how great they are…unselfish as always. Even in the face of the unknown, he’s showing such bravery and strength.”
Ultimately, Casey’s feet and hands were taken but his message remains that he is ready for whatever comes, and that he is focused on healing and recovering so that he can return to making the most of life with his wife and sons.
For those who know him, Casey is a strong, tough, kind, hilarious, compassionate, and resilient man who has made it his mission to take care of all around him. He is a devoted father and husband, a dedicated son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, uncle, son-in-law, and brother-in-law, and just about the best friend you could ever ask for. The lives of Casey, Kelli, Cooper, and Tanner have forever changed and they will need to rely on the support of others after serving as the support for so many for so long.
Thank you for standing with Casey and the Smyth family as they face this unexpected battle. Your generosity will provide critical support for their new journey ahead—helping them adapt, heal, and move forward with hope. Every contribution, big or small, makes a difference, and we are deeply grateful for your kindness and support.
