ja_mageia

For those of you who don't know Rich Fritzky, he is the loving father of 12 (YES - TWELVE) children and husband to Maggie (Sireno) Fritzky.  Rich, Maggie and their family live in Byram Township NJ where Rich was an active member of the community. They lived a fairly normal and modest life until that fateful day, October 4, 2005. Rich had always enjoyed good health and was a successful member of the business community, serving for more than 25 years as the CEO of the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce. He taught history and literature at Farleigh Dickinson University and had recently authored several wonderful books, two of which are offered for sale on this site.  He remains a parishioner at Blessed Kateri Roman Catholic Church in Sparta and now writes for a number of clients, while looking to do more and more inspirational speaking.

Early on that fateful October 4th, he began to feel what he thought was the onset of a flu, but by late that Tuesday afternoon, he was rushed to the hospital while disoriented and fighting a fever of more than 106 degrees.  In the ICU at Morristown Memorial Hospital, he was placed in a medically induced coma in order to save his life and enable assisted breathing, feeding and intravenous medications and other life support systems.  The last words he uttered to his family who were only allowed to stand in the doorway of the ICU were ...

"I want you to rest easy for I will be resting easy.  Pray and keep the faith. Believe as I believe and all will come out well."

By Friday of that week, it was determined that Rich had contracted Neisseria Meningitis, a rare and deadly form of the Meningococcal virus that wreaks havoc with almost every bodily system leaving its victims in great pain and fighting for their lives. His renal, respiratory, and circulatory systems had failed immediately. Virtually every victim of the disease dies within the first 24 hours. 

Efforts to get Rich out of the coma began on October 7^th but it would be almost 4 months before Rich uttered his first conscious words. They were to his wife who, with his children, stood at his bedside throughout those long and terrible months.  It took some great effort but he finally formed and uttered his first sentient words on a Saturday morning when he looked at Maggie and whispered, "I love you."

Rich struggled for many months, losing both legs and all but one half of one finger to the ravages of the disease, but his mind and all his faculties remain powerfully intact and he has begun a new and meaningful life thanks to the prayers of many and the mercy of a loving God.