Supplements

CURRENT ISSUE

'jump rope for heart' a personal experience in this parish

Story and photo by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

“Jump Rope for Heart” has been a mainstay in some Catholic elementary schools for years, and St. Agatha in New Athens is no exception, with youngsters jumping rope since 1987.

However, this year, the event was different, more personal, especially for second-grader Ty Milburn. This year Ty and all of the students were jumping rope with Tad Milburn, Ty’s father, in mind.

The elder Milburn had received a new heart March 23rd at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis at the ripe old age of 34.
Milburn attended the American Heart Association fund raiser at the school wearing a mask to cut down on the possibility of germs. While he doesn’t wear the mask at home, he does when he goes out in public until June when he hopes he will no longer be advised to wear it.

Ty belonged to “Team Tad,” and said this year was different because he had never jumped rope for his dad before that day.

Milburn was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2009, and it became progressively worse until he was put on a waiting list for a heart Feb. 4 this year.

While medical personnel said it could be two months to a year before he received a call for the transplant, everything moved quickly.

One of the first people he remembers seeing after the surgery besides his family was his pastor, Father Jim Nall, Milburn said.

The couple joined the Catholic church in 2006, and the parish and school have been very supportive of the family, Milburn and his wife, Jennifer, said.

“Our friends and parish family have been amazing,” she said. Along the way, the couple said “we said extra prayers and that’s what helped us get through it.”

Using a nonprofit web site called “CaringBridge,” Jennifer Milburn began and continues to keep everyone apprised of her husband’s situation through the surgery and with the follow-up care he is receiving.