Jesus knew the value we should all place on our children when he said in the Gospel of Matthew, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Parents’ love for their children is endless. No parent ever wants anything bad to happen to their children, and would rather suffer themselves than have their children suffer; but that is not how the vagaries of life always work.
The Lyons family knew from the beginning that their son Joseph’s life would be different. His mom, Stephanie, tells his story: “We are very open about his story and testament, and Joseph was born in 2021 with half a heart. Typically, three surgeries would help reconstruct his heart and optimize its performance. He had the first two surgeries before he was four months old. Following the second surgery, he had a really rough recovery. He struggled to recover and spent six weeks in the ICU before going home on New Year’s Eve of 2021.”
Stephanie says Joseph did fantastic for about three years. That was when they typically would put him up for the last surgery, the third and final one. His case was presented to the surgical review board at Duke, and they decided he was not a candidate for that surgery based on the number of medications he was on and the rough recovery following the last surgery when he was a baby. Stephanie shared that they sought two second opinions at other hospitals and ultimately decided to stay at Duke and pursue a transplant. “They didn’t feel that his body could handle another surgery to try to fix the half a heart he already had,” she says, “and so he was listed for transplant in July of 2025.”
Being on a transplant list can involve long waits, and life must continue; so in August 2025, Joseph started at St. Francis of Assisi Preschool in one of the 4-year-old classes. “From the beginning of Joseph starting school, we told them about his condition,” says Stephanie. “Even before school started, his teachers, Tanya and Tere, in the ‘Discovery Friends’ class, reached out to me personally and wanted to know what they could do to help make the class a welcoming and safe environment for him.” They also asked Stephanie to come in and share a little bit about Joseph’s heart.
“I came in and read a book to the class about hearts, and we brought some pictures of Joseph in the hospital so that he could share with the class,” she remembered. “He has a very positive outlook on the hospital, so I wanted him to share that to show that it wasn’t scary; it was somewhere that he goes often to help him feel better, and then he comes back to school. It was really great to share that part of his life with the class. The teachers, students, and parents were so kind, and a few parents even reached out to me personally to say they were glad I shared Joseph’s story, as they had faced similar hardships with medical challenges. It was nice to know someone else on a similar journey. It was really special to know his story was helping other people feel included, and to see that kids, even at four years old, have so much love, compassion, and understanding.”
Joseph had a great first few months of school last year, but he started getting sicker as the holidays approached and ended up in the hospital on New Year’s Eve 2025. “When he was in the hospital, his class would constantly write him cards,” says Stephanie. “I ended up making a canvas collage of all the artwork and cards that his class had done for him while he was in the hospital. Preschool parents, as well as Heidi, the Director of the Preschool, constantly checked in to see how they could help.” While he was in the hospital, his teachers sent projects home with his little brother, Isaiah, so he could still be included in class. One student kindly asked his mom if Joseph could be his “share item” for the letter ‘J’; Joseph surprised the class with a video call. “It never felt like he left the school, even though he was at Duke for the first six months of 2026 and never set foot in the school. He was still very much a part of the class.”
When you have a community like the St. Francis Preschool community, health concerns only draw them closer! As Catholics, we are called to care for others through our baptism, and Joseph’s classmates and many others at St. Francis didn’t miss that. While he was in the hospital, his mom read Joseph books, and one of his favorites was about the sacraments. “We had been there probably not even a week, and we got to the ‘Anointing of the Sick, and he said, ‘Well, Mama, I’m sick. Can I be anointed?’ So Father Chris came out to the hospital and anointed Joseph. “It was really just every facet of St. Francis,” says Stephanie, “from the church to the preschool, the preschool staff, and the preschool families. They all were so great, and reached out on weekends and nights to make sure that we were taken care of.” Everyone was on Team Joseph.
On May 8th, 2026, Joseph received his heart transplant. “He had a long recovery afterward,” recalled his mom, “nothing scary, but a few hiccups. He ended up spending about six weeks in the ICU and then a week in the step-down recovery, but he went home three days before his fifth birthday. So he was able to spend his fifth birthday at home.” Of course, even though preschool was out for the summer, the community just had to celebrate.
“Another mom at St. Francis, Kelly McGee, was so helpful through this whole journey,” added Stephanie. “She organized meal trains, helped coordinate care for Isaiah, and had gift baskets sent for Joseph while he was in the hospital.” Then she and Heidi organized a parade on Joseph’s birthday to welcome him home. “There were fire trucks and police cars, everyone held signs and cheered Joseph on, and we did a loop around the parking lot,” remembers Stephanie. “We stopped and waved to everybody, and it was just really special.”
At this point, another St. Francis community member added to the support. Sam Straight was a research chemist for years and ran Glaxo’s domestic supply chain organization. Sam and his wife, Arlene, raised three sons and consistently supported children’s causes. As Sam puts it, “My wife was a champion for children through her career in maternity training, family planning, and anything and everything that had to do with children.” Unfortunately, Sam’s wife had developed cancer. While she was battling cancer, Father Steve Kluge would come to the house just about every Sunday to give them communion and to chat. “We were chatting, and she said to me, ‘Don’t you forget the children.’ I thought she meant our sons, but she said, ‘I don’t just mean our boys, I mean all the children.’”
Sam recalls fondly, “You can’t name a children’s charity that she wasn’t involved in, both locally and internationally. She always had a child that she sponsored in Latin America and Europe.” Locally, she was focused on education: “What Dolly Parton was doing with books, my wife championed that. She wanted to know how much money I could give to that effort. Her passion was children, children, and children.”
Arlene ultimately lost her battle to cancer, and Father Kluge counseled Sam, ‘You’ve got to find something to do with yourself.’ He suggested Sam join the Knights of Columbus. “My whole family in central New York is in the Knights, and have been forever,” says Sam, “so I joined. The Knights have a group that does philanthropy, and I volunteered to work on that.” At the time, they weren’t considering the preschool, so Sam started an endowment for it at the end of 2021. That endowment, funded from required disbursements from his retirement funds, is, as Sam says, “finally kicking off enough money that we can give scholarships to deserving families.”
“Heidi came to me this year,” Sam recalls, “and said, ‘We have an interesting situation,’ and then she brought up Joseph and what was going on with his family. I said, ‘What a wonderful idea,’ and gave it my blessing.” Ever humble, Sam downplays his role: “Whatever little bit I had to do with that, it’s nothing compared to what the doctors and all the people surrounding that little boy were able to accomplish.”
The scholarship overjoyed Stephanie. “It was such a blessing when I got that email from Heidi and Shelley. I didn’t expect that, and obviously, medical bills and living in the hospital for half the year really depleted our bank accounts, but we knew there was nowhere else we wanted the kids to go to school. We would’ve made it work in whatever way possible for them to stay at St. Francis Preschool, but getting that email was amazing. I am so full of gratitude for everything St. Francis has done for us, and receiving that scholarship to continue to send our kids to what we feel is the best school for them was an immense blessing.”
Stephanie is thankful for all the support and is looking forward to next month: “Joseph still has to avoid being around too many people because the first six months post-transplant are highest risk of rejection. So if he gets sick in those six months, he’s at higher risk of rejection. November 8th, those six months are up. As long as Joseph stays healthy until then, he’s going to go back to school in November.” His brother, Isaiah, will also return to school and will attend one of the 3-year-old classes.
Being part of a faith community means coming together and supporting each other. Everyone, in small and large ways, can sustain and improve what has been built. All of St. Francis can work in concert to create a circle of good work that renews our faith journeys; Joseph’s story is one example of the good we can all be inspired by here as we welcome him back.
