Eleven-year-old Adin Hickey already beat the health odds to receive a life-saving heart transplant. Now, Chicagoans have helped him beat the financial odds to get him home for Christmas.<\/p>\n
When we first met Adin last weekend, he and his mom, Melissa Hickey, were still stationed at Lurie Children’s Hospital as Adin recovered from his heart transplant surgery.<\/p>\n
Melissa Hickey reached out to WGN News with Adin’s wish \u2014 to be home in time for Christmas.<\/p>\n
Adin, who was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and has been wheelchair-bound since he was nine, defied the odds to get the transplant because his condition usually means that muscle tissue around his heart degenerates over time. But that wasn’t the case with Adin.<\/p>\n
With that hurdle overcome, the next step to get him home for the holidays was both a logistical and a financial one. Adin needed a reliable wheelchair van for transportation.<\/p>\n
His aunt, Amanda Miller, organized a GoFundMe to raise money to get Adin and his mom the van. After his story aired on WGN News, local Chicagoans opened their hearts and wallets to the tune of over $30,000 to help pay for a wheelchair van, maintenance, and care.<\/p>\n
Bettenhausen Automotive even stepped in to help make sure Adin got his sweet new ride.<\/p>\n
“It means the world to us. We\u2019re beyond excited,” Melissa Hickey said. “It\u2019s going to help us so much to get to doctor’s appointments. Adin already has four appointments this week and the following week and the following week after that.”<\/p>\n
For now, Adin and Melissa are in step-down care at the Ronald McDonald House. It’s close to where they live on Chicago’s South Side and helps keep the goal to be home for Christmas in sight.<\/p>\n
“It means the world. I can\u2019t wait to get home and spend Christmas in our house, have a tree,” Melissa Hickey said.<\/p>\n
Adin’s journey is a testament to the power of community support and the importance of never giving up. With the help of generous Chicagoans, Adin and his mom are one step closer to making their holiday wish come true.<\/p>\n
* What is Adin’s condition?
\n\t+ Adin has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a condition that affects his muscles and mobility.
\n* How did Adin get a heart transplant?
\n\t+ Adin received a heart transplant due to his heart condition, which made it necessary to replace his heart.
\n* What is Adin’s goal for the holidays?
\n\t+ Adin’s goal is to be home for Christmas with his family in their own home on Chicago’s South Side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chicagoans Fulfill Adin’s Christmas Wish, Help Get Him Home for the Holidays A Heartwarming Story of Community Support Eleven-year-old Adin Hickey already beat the health odds to receive a life-saving heart transplant. Now, Chicagoans have helped him beat the financial odds to get him home for Christmas. A Heartwarming Story of Community Support When we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8243","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/wgntv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/12\/snapshot-2024-12-15T173826.201.jpg?w=900&w=900&resize=900,505&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8243"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8245,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8243\/revisions\/8245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}