All Around Pennsauken

After COVID-19 severely attacked his lungs, doctors told Bob Haines that he’s lucky to be alive. But as he completes his testing for a double lung transplant, he needs some more miracles to get his life back.

Haines, a Pennsauken native who raised his two children, Kyle and Bradley, on Cooper Ave. near Pinsetter Bar and Bowl, contracted COVID in late January of last year.

“I was very careful; I sit behind a desk,” explained Haines, who worked in sales at Restaurant Depot before getting sick. “It finally caught up to me.”

After quarantining for two weeks, Bob still wasn’t feeling well. After four weeks in the hospital, a diagnosis of bilateral pneumonia turned into interstitial lung disease, which causes progressive – and irreversible – scarring of lung tissue.

“It scars over everything. There’s no cure,” said Haines.

Bob’s only chance is a double lung transplant. Through the University of Pennsylvania, he’s gone through days of testing – with more to come – and his case is under review with the transplant board. He’s hopeful that he will be approved, but there are more hurdles to overcome. After surgery, there are substantial out-of-pocket medical costs that aren’t covered by insurance.

Haines is fundraising through Help Hope Live, an organization that supports community-based fundraising for people with unmet medical expenses and related costs due to cell and organ transplants or catastrophic injuries and illnesses. Donations, which are tax deductible, will only be used to pay or reimburse medical and related expenses.

Bob is pushing for just a few more miracles: to be approved for a transplant and to be able to have enough funds that the hospital will be able to perform the surgery and save his life. He’s hoping that the community he called home for over 20 years might be able to lend a hand.

“There are so many costs associated with the whole process that no one thinks of,” explains Haines. “Even if people just give $20, it can add up.

“I’m only 57. Before I got sick, I was working 50-60 hours a week and taking care of my partially disabled wife. Now she’s taking care of me. I want to get better. I want to get off oxygen. I want my life back.”  

For more on Bob’s story, and to donate, visit https://helphopelive.org/campaign/20721/.