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Sunday benefit at Austintown school to help worker fight fibrosis
By Elise Franco
AUSTINTOWN
Transportation department employees at Austintown schools consider themselves family, and a family comes together when one of its own is in need.
The need for Lorraine Haefke, a district bus driver for eight years, and her family couldn’t be any greater as her husband struggles with a potentially fatal disease.
Jeff Haefke, 43, was diagnosed in 2003 with pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that was caused by a severe allergy to cobalt dust particles emitted from the materials he worked with at his personal business.
Pulmonary fibrosis causes scar tissue within the lungs, making breathing and all daily living activities very difficult. He is on oxygen 24 hours daily and hasn’t been able to work since September 2011.
The disease began to take hold last fall when Jeff came down with a case of pneumonia, said Colleen Murphy, transportation director. He needs a double-lung transplant, as his lungs are functioning only at 16 percent capacity.
Jeff was added to the transplant list at The Cleveland Clinic on April 23, his 43rd birthday, but the transplant is costly, Murphy said.
She said the department and the entire Mahoning Valley banded together and organized a spaghetti dinner benefit from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday in the Austintown Middle School cafeteria. Proceeds will be donated to the family to help with medical expenses and immunosuppressants that Jeff will take for the duration of his life after surgery.
“We’re like a family here,” Murphy said. “Jeff got sick in the fall, and we could see Lorraine starting to struggle. We decided we needed to do something to help this family.”
Murphy said since March, dozens of residents and businesses have donated money, gift cards, baked goods and items for baskets that will be auctioned during the benefit.
“It’s amazing what people are doing, just calling us with donations and we don’t even know them,” she said. “Lorraine is a wonderful, kind person, and this family is truly in need of the community’s help.”
Lorraine Haefke said she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support by her department and by the entire community.
“When I first got the call about the benefit, I broke down and cried,” she said.
Haefke said her husband’s transplant would cost about $500,000 and the medication he would have to take afterward is between $1,000 and $5,000 per month. She said he is also required to remain in the Cleveland Clinic for about eight weeks after the surgery.
Jeff Haefke said there’s no time line as to when he’ll get the surgery because it depends on the availability of the organs. He said his doctors have said the seriousness of his condition puts him near the top of the donor list, however.
Despite the uncertainty, Jeff said he feels blessed to have such a large showing of support.
“It’s mind-blowing. I couldn’t believe all the support we’ve gotten. It’s hard to explain because I could have never dreamt that it would be like this,” he said.
Tickets to the benefit are $8 per adult and $5 for children 12 and under. They’re available at the door or by calling 330-406-5765.