W E D N E S D A Y
April 17, 2024 Vol. 44, No. 42
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JOURNAL of Oak Park and River Forest
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Health and Wellness Page B1
Former D97 art teacher awaits new heart
Angel in the outfield
Gone too soon, but not forgotten
Nathon Rodrigues hopes to highlight the gift of life through organ donation
STORY BY MELVIN TATE, PAGE 28
By AMARIS E. RODRIGUEZ Staff Reporter
PROVIDED
PHOTO BY JOSH HAWKINS/FILE 2006
Andrew Hagins (above) when he played for the Illinois Orioles, a traveling club, in 2006. There is an enhanced look at Oak Park and River Forest’s baseball field as the late Andrew Hagins’ #25 baseball jersey number was painted behind home plate last week. Hagins, who died in December, will be honored on April 20 before the Huskies’ home game against Hinsdale South.
Two months after registering on a heart transplant list, it’s time for former Oak Park Elementary School art teacher Nathon Rodrigues. Time to wait. Time to take stock. Time to share his story. As part of April’s National Donate Life Month commemoration, sponsored by Donate Life America, a nonprofit that works to increase the availability of donated organs and tissue, he’s doing just that. “These services are so necessary, they are so vital for so many people,” Rodrigues, 44, said. “You never really see the lives it touches, but it is there, and it helps your community.” The Oak Park resident was first diagnosed in 2019 with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease in which the heart muscle becomes thickened, making it harder for the heart to pump blood. According to the American Heart Association, the disease is often caused by abnormal genes in the heart muscle. It is also most often inherited, and is the most See NEW HEART on page 14
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