Madison Academy Family In Life Battle Away From Baseball Diamond
Ryan’s parents, Tim and Myunghee Harness, have been living in Phoenix, Arizona since last August as Myunghee has undergone a double lung transplant as she suffers from an autoimmune disease known as scleroderma, which caused pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension. The disease caused her to lose 60-percent of her lung function and forced her on oxygen at all times.
She underwent the double transplant at St. Joe’s Hospital in Phoenix on Dec. 14 after being turned down for the major surgery by the Mayo Clinic of Florida, Vanderbilt Hospital and Duke University Hospital. The scleroderma also caused her esophagus to be near total non-functional, thus the reason for the refusal. Dr. Michael Smith of St. Joe’s led the surgical team whom performed the surgery and Myunghee is currently on the mend with Tim by her side at all times as her official caregiver.
“I am fighting every day and my life is about making an effort to be better as what you earn in life is always a fight,” said Myunghee, 61, from their living quarters at the Editha House, which is a non-profit organization providing housing for adults and caregivers traveling to Phoenix for medical treatment.
“We celebrate two birthdays for Myunghee,” said Tim, 61. “October third for her natural birth date and December 14 for a rebirth of sorts with the surgery. We consider the surgery a second chance at life”
While his parents are 1,600 miles away, Ryan is trying to live as close to normal life as possible as a student-athlete for the Mustangs. For the last seven months he has lived with the Gaffins family who are members of his church. He calls his parents each night after his day at school and most nights on the baseball diamond.
“When I’ve had a stressful day at school or in baseball calling my parents is stress-relieving, plus I report on how my games went,” said Ryan, an A-B student. “At times I get emotional during the calls. It’s usually something my mother has said to me.”
Several families within the Madison Academy “family” have covered all of Ryan’s baseball fees, fundraising commitments and even airfare for Ryan to visit his parents whenever possible. Ryan is adopted from Guatemala and looks to the “family” at Madison Academy to be his family while his parents are away in what is a promising, but still volatile situation. Surgeons indicate there’s a four-month period to where the body could easily reject the new lungs. The entire Harness family know the window for success or failure is still open.
“It’s extremely difficult to be away from Ryan, especially at this stage of his life,” said Tim. “Madison Academy does well in academics and athletics, but the school excels at raising servant leaders by teaching by example.”
Tim and Myunghee met about 20 years ago while working out at the same gymnasium. Tim had to go through a sort of “interview” process with members of her family before the green light was given for the relationship to take place. Myunghee is from South Korea and strict long-time family values were followed to the end. Tim was even the first man to date Myunghee.
Tim is a native of Huntsville and attended Grissom High while Myunghee made her way to the United States at age 33. She became a U.S. citizen in 2008.
Myunghee was an active person when she began to tire and could not continue to do some of the things she loved to do around the age of 45. She had muscle aches and coughing and she said she could hear a raspy sound whenever she would breathe. She began to see doctors to find the causes of her condition. She was placed on oxygen when the diagnosis was finally determined and the decision made in 2017 to try and complete a lung transplant.
The major surgery is rare. Myunghee’s procedure was No. 102 for 2018.
Tim is able to work out of his makeshift office at their living quarters as he’s a contract management representative for the Boeing Company, which has been tremendous in their understanding and cooperation with the situation at hand.
Exactly whose lungs did Myunghee receive is unknown, but Tim and Myunghee think the organs came from a teenager who died in an automobile accident. With Myunghee’s strong heart and overall sound physical condition she came through the surgery as well as could be expected. “Her oxygenation rate is higher than mine,” said Tim with a positive tone to his voice. “Even during a recent bout with what doctors determined was pneumonia her overall condition is good and doctors feel there is a good chance of her body non-rejecting the lungs and she will have a full recovery.”
Meanwhile, Ryan continues to lace up his cleats, don his uniform and put on his glove each and every day the Mustangs’ schedule indicates. His faith in God has guided him through this trying time without his parents and the scary thoughts of they are going through a faith-testing experience.
“I’ve learned to cope with the entire situation as my strong religious faith keeps me going and knowing we all will come through this,” said Ryan. “I send my parents photos of me and tell them how I’m playing as I’ve played on both the junior varsity and varsity teams.”
Myunghee is staying as active as possible as rehabilitation continues with a half-mile walk on a daily basis and she’s even beginning to sing again as she was once the choir director at her church.
“I look at Myunghee and ask why her? She hasn’t done anything to deserve this as she’s an angel of a person,” said Tim.
Myunghee reflected on the experience as certainly life-changing, but never wavered on her faith in God or her family. “Tim is my pride. My friend. My caregiver. We both miss Ryan.”
“Not having my parents around to share my successes is the toughest part as I truly miss them,” added Ryan. “I do want to thank the Gaffins for allowing me to move into their lives and helping with transportation and everything else they have done.”
“This takes an army of people to make happen,” said Tim. “The hospital and its staff, the physicians, the families assisting Ryan, the company I work for and Madison Academy and everyone associated with the school have all been a part of this entire effort. If all goes well, we hope to return to our home in Huntsville by Christmas.”
