The Family Story

Mr. Zadroga was seriously ill and near death many times this past school year. He was hospitalized for months at a time and it was ‘touch and go’ for many months with complications, surgical procedures and time spent between Jersey Shore Hospital and Philadelphia. There was enormous stress on the family with Mr. Zadroga not able to work, also not knowing minute to minute what would happen next. Because of this, his daughter Dakota missed a lot of school to visit with her dad and spent many late nights in the hospital by his side. This didn’t stop Dakota from having a positive attitude, keeping up with her school work and maintaining High Honor Roll status at her school. Great work Dakota! Because of their struggles this year, we were happy to invite Dakota and her family to a wonderful July 4th celebration on the Navesink.

The Thank You

Hi Karen,
It was such a nice party and we had a great time. Everything was perfect. I want to tell you we almost were not able to make it. My husband is still being treated in Philadelphia and we usually have to go every two weeks. This past Friday he had a procedure which should have been outpatient. He went in for his procedure and five minutes later the nurse came out and told me his heart rate was 156 and he was in Atrial Fibrillation. They rushed him down to emergency and his procedure was cancelled. He was admitted to hospital and they had a hard time getting his heart rate down. Long story short, my daughter was crying so bad worried about her Dad and also of course she was looking so forward to attending the party. I told her I would come back home and her and I could attend the party, but she said she did not want to go without Dad. The doctors were able to get his heart back to normal rate and I spoke with the Cardiologist and explained about the event we were invited to on the weekend. The doctor ended up releasing him and letting us have a follow-up visit this week. I thank God, that all worked out so this made this night even more appreciated and extra special. Thank you so much to your organization for a wonderful, unforgettable night out. We never would have had such an experience without your generosity. If there is any other person/people that made this possible which I can send a thank you to, I would appreciate if you could let me know. Thank-you so very much, Sincerely, Joseph, Lisa & Dakota Zadroga.

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