White House security director lost foot, lower leg in battle against coronavirus: report

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A White House official lost his right foot and lower leg to a battle with COVID-19 that began over three months ago, according to a friend. 

Crede Bailey, director of the White House security office, contracted the virus in September, before the Sept. 26 Rose Garden ceremony for Justice Amy Coney Barrett that led to a new round of infections. His office handles credentials and works with the Secret Service. Dozens of White House officials have since tested positive for COVID. 

Bailey’s family has asked the White House not to draw attention to his condition, and President Trump has not publicly acknowledged his illness. 

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Bailey’s friend Dawn McCrobie organized a GoFundMe page to raise money for his medical expenses. “First let me say that Crede will NOT be happy I've done this as he is a proud man who is the first to help everyone else but would never ask for help himself,” she wrote in the Nov. 13 post. 

“But the reality is this. His family has staggering medical bills from a hospital stay of 2+ months and still counting in the ICU and a long road ahead in rehab before he can go home.  When he does make it home there will be major changes necessary to deal with his new, and permanent, disability,” McCrobie continued. 

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Crede has since been released from the ICU and is at a full-time rehabilitation center, according to a Dec. 7 update to the GoFundMe page. 

“Crede beat COVID-19 but it came at a significant cost: his big toe on his left foot as well as his right foot and lower leg had to be amputated,” McCrobie wrote. “What COVID-19 did not take is Crede’s love for life, his gigantic personality, or his humor. He is in great spirits and is attending physical therapy multiple times a day to regain and build muscles and learn how to thrive without his foot/leg.”

Doctors are still learning the kind of damage COVID-19 can cause, but loss of blood flow is believed to be a possible consequence. The virus is known to attack the vascular system and can cause deadly blood clots. 

Two people familiar with Bailey’s situation confirmed that McCrobie is a friend, though Bloomberg could not reach Bailey’s family for comment. McCrobie asked family and friends not to take questions from the media in a Monday update. 

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“Why him when there are hundreds of thousands of other people who are, or were sick with COVID-19, who lost a loved one; who lost their jobs?” she wrote of the sudden media attention.