Friends come
to the rescue

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Robert Stubbs was generally a healthy person.
The 59-year-old Tacony man is a former gymnast and martial arts competitor who liked to go fishing, hiking and camping. He ate healthy and gave up drinking, but smoked a pack of cigarettes a day.
A heart attack in 2004 scared him. He recovered, but suffered another heart attack at home on Jan. 15 of this year. He was taken briefly to Nazareth Hospital.
"Eight minutes later, I was in a helicopter, and six minutes later I was at Einstein," he said.
At Albert Einstein Medical Center, doctors inserted a pacemaker defibrillator and sent the patient home. But he was feeling tired and having some trouble breathing and sleeping.
On Jan. 31, his wife Mary Jo was describing the symptoms in a telephone call to Robert’s cardiologist.
"Get him to Jefferson," Dr. Gaetano Capone ordered.
At Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, doctors determined that Robert was experiencing congestive heart failure.
By mid-February, after additional testing, doctors determined the condition was even more severe, that Robert needed a new heart.
"They said it will last two years if I’m lucky, three years if I don’t do much," he said.
His wife was equally stunned.
"I knew his heart was in bad shape, but I didn’t know how bad it was," she said.
Robert and Mary Jo Stubbs are working with Dr. Paul Mather, director of advanced heart failure and the cardiac transplant center at Jefferson.
Various tests have to be completed for Robert to be placed on the transplant list. In addition, he has to stop smoking.
Robert had no trouble giving up drinking years ago, but he estimates he has smoked a total of three packs of cigarettes this year.
"Even that’s too much," he acknowledged.
In the meantime, Mary Jo’s classmates from the St. Leo Elementary School Class of 1965 are organizing a benefit for the family on Saturday at Curran’s Irish Inn.
Besides Robert’s condition, doctors found a hole in Mary Jo’s heart in June. She suffered a silent heart attack and a mini-stroke. When she walks up stairs or for a long distance, she has trouble breathing. She’ll be back at the doctor for an update on Nov. 12.
Also, the couple’s 19-year-old son John has Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder.
Mary Jo, 57, contacted former classmate Sue Engles after learning that she had to pay about $10,000 for some of her husband’s medication that isn’t covered by insurance. Keystone Health Plan East is paying for the rest of the costly medical bills.
Engles spoke with another ex-classmate, Mike Sullivan, who called a meeting of friends who planned a 40th reunion two years ago.
"We have to do something," said Sullivan, who credits the Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Leo with instilling the type of values in students that lead them to look out for the less fortunate.
"A decent-size benefit will get them a few dollars and get them out of the hole. It’s great to take care of one of your own."
Robert has worked various jobs over the years, but has been sidelined since his heart attack in January. He spends his time reading, watching television, taking walks and making visits to the doctor.
"I wanted to retire when I was sixty, but not this way," he said.
Mary Jo has worked as an aide at the St. Vincent’s Home shelter on Milnor Street for more than 11 years. She loves the job, caring for young women whom she treats like the daughters she never had.
Still, she struggles to make the monthly mortgage payment. Of course, she worries about her husband and son. She is grateful for the support of Robert’s sister, Penny Manning, who lives with the family and assists them in numerous ways.
As for the upcoming benefit, she is looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends.
"My classmates are wonderful," she said. "I knew they were wonderful when I went to school with them. They’re lifting my spirits up. Without them, I don’t know what I would do. It’s nice to know there are people out there who will help you out."
Mary Jo grew up on the 6600 block of Edmund St. She attended St. Hubert High School after graduating from St. Leo.
Robert moved next door when they were teenagers and attended Abraham Lincoln High School.
Yet, it wasn’t until they were in their 30s that they started dating. They were married in 1987 and became parents a year later. They live in the home in which Mary Jo grew up.
Now, Robert is in a fight for his life.
Considering his condition, he remains in high spirits. He thinks he’ll be able to receive a new heart, in part, because he has a common type B blood and is not a large man.
At the same time, he knows the seriousness of the situation.
"I have to get it done," he said. "If I don’t, I die." ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com

How to help . . .

The beef ’n’ beer benefit for the Stubbs family will take place on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Curran’s Irish Inn, State Road and Longshore Avenue, in Tacony.
Tickets are available at the door. They cost $25 and include music, food, beer, soda, coffee and desserts.
There will be door prizes, a 50-50, an auction and raffles for a basket of cheer and other prizes. Green ribbons will be sold for $1 to benefit the Mid-Atlantic Heart Transplant Fund.
For tickets or more information, call John Sullivan at 215-332-4873 or Michael Sullivan at 1-856-461-7720. Or, visit www.saintleos65.com
Anyone who is unable to attend the benefit but would like to support the cause can send donations to Stubbs Family Benefit Fund, c/o Michael Sullivan, 889 Waterford Drive, Delran, NJ 08075-2327.