Nick Madrigale is a 31-year-old Atlgen resident, life partner, father of four and a status 4 heart transplant recipient. He was born with a “hidden” heart disease, Hypertrophic Cardiomypathy (HCM). It causes the heart muscle to have thick walls, which limits the amount of blood to the heart and makes it difficult for oxygen-rich blood to be delivered to the rest of the body, writes Richard Gaw for Chester County Press.  

About 200,000 people have been “officially” diagnosed with HCM. However, 85 percent of people are unaware that they have it. Diagnosed at five-years old and fitted for his first pacemaker/defibrillator at the age of eight, Madrigale had to limit outdoor activities and sports growing up.  

“Having to deal with it for so long, however, it became normal, and luckily I had a lot of good friends around me who understood that and accepted me,” Madrigale says.  

Instead, Madrigale took to writing and music as his passions. A graduate of Downingtown West High School in 2009, he started his career in sales and worked his way up to Ephrata Bank in Lancaster County. But his life came to a standstill in May of 2021 when he was diagnosed with pneumonia while in the Emergency Room.  

When medics measured his heart’s blood flow, they found that he had chronic heart failure. Despite being given several medications, a cardiac catheter and going back to work; Madrigale’s heart failure progressed throughout the year.  

Soon enough, Madrigale was sent to the Penn Heart Transplant Program for a new heart. He can receive it in the next six months to one year if his health maintains, but physicians are still evaluating the timeline.  

Unfortunately, the timeline is only half the battle. Madrigale has to deal with the hurdle of significant financial burdens. His short-term disability only covers 60 percent of his salary and runs out at the end of the month. He will soon have to pay 100 percent of his medical bills out of pocket. So he collaborated with his partner and mother of his children Danielle Hayes, along with another loved one to start a fundraiser.  

The GoFundMe’s goal is to reach $50,000 and is currently at $17,000. There will be a Casino Night at a private residence in Morton, PA.  

Learn more about Nick Madrigale’s journey for a new heart on Chester County Press.