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Nicole Stafford has raised more than $120,000 since 2011 for research
CORTLAND
Nicole Stafford of Johnston Township has pulmonary hypertension, a disease of the blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the lungs, with no known cure.
Because of her work for the national Pulmonary Hypertension Association since being diagnosed in 2011, including raising more than $120,000, primarily through an annual golf outing, Stafford was recently named “The Outstanding PH Citizen of the Year.”
She was invited to PHA’s headquarters to receive the award, but because the date conflicts with the fourth annual Nicole PHriends PHAssociation Golf Outing Scramble on Saturday at the Mahoning Country Club in Girard, she declined the invitation.
So PHA decided to come to Nicole, who recently spent a week in the Cleveland Clinic to remove fluid from around her heart and lungs and out of her liver. Carl Hicks, PHAs vice president, will present the award to Nicole during the golf outing.
Nicole, 37, married and the mother of two, said she is “surprised and honored and super excited” to be named The Outstanding PH Citizen of the Year.
But, because of the disease, Nicole, an occupational therapist, can no longer work.
She said she was a workaholic before getting sick and admitted that her golf outing is kind of a full-time activity.
“I’m happy to donate something to try to change the course of this disease. I can decide if it goes to research or marketing. One year, I sent $12,000 to Cleveland Clinic for its PH research department,” she said.
Pulmonary hypertension, which Nicole said can be genetic but is not so in her case, is one of 7,000 rare diseases.
She was born with a congenital heart defect that required heart surgery when she was in the third grade.
“I was pretty much fine ... not restricted after that,” she said.
But at 32, she was diagnosed with PH.
Her primary symptom is the sudden onset of severe shortness of breath.
“It feels like there is a ton of bricks on my chest and I can’t breathe,” said Nicole.
Other PH symptoms include light-headedness, dizziness, fainting spells and weakness, she said.
Pulmonary hypertension is a lung disease in which the arteries close up, making it difficult for the heart to push blood to the lungs resulting in the body not getting fully oxygenated.
Over time, the heart weakens and can no longer do its job, often leading to heart failure, Nicole said.
“Often the symptoms are pretty severe,” she explains. “But I’m passionate about this cause, and it will take a lot more than pain and fatigue to keep me from helping make the golf outing successful.”
“Usually I just pretend I’m not sick. I don’t like to admit I have an illness; I have two kids to chase after. I have very good family and friends support. They keep my spirits up every day,” she said.
Nicole and her husband, Kenny II, both 1997 graduates of Maplewood High School, have two children: Kenny III, 9, and a daughter, Rainee, 4.
Nicole, on disability, has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in occupational therapy from Gannon University in Erie, Pa. Her parents are Janie and Don Conway of Johnston Township.
Her husband, the son of Ken and Sherri Stafford of Farmdale, works in the family business, Sunburst Environmental Services Inc.
Golfing slots for Nicole’s golf outing are sold out. People, however, are welcome to come to the Mahoning Country Club between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, and bid on about 80 auction baskets or buy 50-50 raffle tickets. Participants do not have to be present to win.
Also, donations can be made by mailing a check made out to the PH Association, attention to Nicole Stafford, P.O. Box 425, Cort-land, OH 44410, or visiting online at https://www.phassociation.org/donate.
Information about Nicole can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nicole.stafford.3762?fref=nf. For information about the PHA, visit www.PHassociation.org., or call Carl Hicks, executive vice president, at 240-485-0772.