Family and friends of Hellertown native and Saucon Valley graduate Michael Henninger are stepping up to help the 39-year-old husband and father as he awaits a heart transplant at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, where he is on a waiting list of potential recipients.
Hellertown native and Saucon Valley graduate Mike Henninger (pictured with his wife Marnie and daughter Bella) is currently on a heart transplant waiting list due to genetic cardiomyopathy. Friends are organizing fundraising efforts on behalf of the Henninger family to help pay for costs related to the transplant not covered by insurance.
At Lower Saucon resident, Henninger finds himself in need of a new heart at a relatively young age not because of any lifestyle choices, but because of familial cardiomyopathy–a genetic condition that has weakened his heart to the point that he can no longer work or play with his nine-year-old daughter, Bella.
According to background information about his story posted on the website HelpHOPELive–where a fundraising campaign has been established on his behalf–Mike was first diagnosed with cardiomyopathy in 2006 at the age of 29, shortly before his daughter was born.
Since that time his heart has continued to weaken, in spite of the fact that he’s undergone nine medical procedures and had two pacemaker-defibrillators inserted.
Mike Henninger and his daughter, Bella Rose (Credit: Henninger family)
As a result of the ongoing weakening, he’s had his heart shocked 11 times and suffered a stroke.
“Unfortunately, in spite of everything he has gone through, his heart continues to deteriorate rapidly,” his biography on HelpHOPELive states. “Mike is no longer capable of working and has been denied disability due to his young age. A heart transplant is the only solution to give Mike his life back. We are confident that the gift of a heart will come to Mike one day. When he feels better, his goal is to go on a bike ride with Bella, and visit family who live four hours away.”
Mike’s wife, Marnie, said a team of their close friends have organized under the name “Team Mike” in order to help coordinate fundraising on the family’s behalf.
Smokin’ Outlaw BBQ of Hellertown–which has organized other fundraisers for Saucon Valley residents in need of help–is planning a barbecue fundraiser to help raise money for the Henningers. The event is scheduled to be held Saturday, Oct. 3 near Hellertown. Additional details are expected to be announced in the near future.
Team Mike will also have an information booth at Hellertown-Lower Saucon Community Day in Hellertown’s Dimmick Park on Saturday, Aug. 22.
Money that is raised as a result of these combined efforts will help the family pay for things such as Mike’s post-transplant medications and required tests/biopsies, as well as travel expenses. It will also help them compensate for lost income.
“We don’t really have a (specific fundraising goal) right now, but it is a lifetime of support that he will need so it is quite a bit,” Marnie said. “We have been getting by the past nine years, but now that he can’t work and I will have unpaid leave from work, Mike and I can no longer afford to get by without asking for help.”
Donations to help Michael Henninger can be made online or mailed HelpHOPELive, 2 Radnor Corporate Center, 100 Matsonford Road, Ste. 100, Radnor, PA 19087. Checks should be made payable to HelpHOPELive with “In Honor of Mike Henninger” written on the check’s memo line.
There is also an online guestbook on the website where friends and family members can post messages of encouragement, and many have already done so.
HelpHOPELive states on its About page that it is “a nonprofit fundraising solution for you, a friend or a loved one in need of help with medical bills.”
“HelpHOPELive maintains one of the highest ratings for a fiscally responsible nonprofit and a deliverer of service to patients,” the page states. It also includes a link to the organization’s four-star rating page on the charity review site, CharityNavigator.org.