Joseph Ozoniak

Dear Family and Friends,

My sister and I are writing to you today to ask for your prayers and support for our brother, Joseph Ozoniak. As most of you know, he has been battling heart failure for the past thirteen years.

Since January 2011 he has had three major surgeries. The first took place at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC on January 21; Joseph had both mitral valve reconstruction and a Tri-Ad Tricuspid Annuloplasty ring procedure. Our brother’s weak heart was not able to benefit more than a few months from these procedures and in mid- May a pacemaker/defibrillator was implanted to assist his failing heart. At that time, doctors told Joseph that a heart transplant was his only hope for survival. On May 29, 2011 Joseph was fortunate enough to receive his heart transplant.

Joseph is a devoted father of two children, and is active in his community. He attends St. Thomas the Apostle RC Church in Oakridge, NJ, and is a Third Degree Knight in the Knights of Columbus, Council 5510. He is also represents Jefferson Township as an elected Morris County committee member. Joseph hopes to soon get back to his volunteer work as a Knight, and to enjoy all that life has to offer, especially playing golf, fishing, and spending time with his family.
The cost of the transplant surgery itself is staggering. The cost of survival is even more expensive. Even with insurance, Joseph will have many uninsured transplant-related expenses such as: co-pays and deductibles, doctor visits and the costly immunosuppressant medications that he will need to take for the rest of his life (which initially will be close to $2,000 a month). We need your help!

To help with some of these uninsured expenses, a fundraising campaign in Joseph’s honor has been established with HelpHOPELive. HelpHOPELive is a nonprofit organization that has been working with the transplant community for more than 28 years. All donations are tax-deductible and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only. Won’t you please help us?Thank you for your consideration in our desperate attempt to give Joseph a second chance at life. We thank you for your generosity, support and prayers.

Diane Kiser Terri Vassallo
609-713-0407 845-721-1767