Night of Comedy Will Benefit Saddle Brook Man

Performer Rich Meyer will bring his popular one-man show back home to Fair Lawn next weekend in support of a Saddle Brook man fighting a rare degenerative muscle disease with no known cure.

Mike Stanzione, who was born in Fair Lawn and now resides in Saddle Brook, was diagnosed with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, called Pompe, in 2007, and placed on a ventilator.

The ventilator kept Stanzione alive, but it also confined him to the hospital, rendering him unable to return home to his wife and young son for an excruciating four years and seven months.

Every plan hatched during those years that would have enabled Stanzione to return home fell through -- until he found a Florida doctor named Barry Byrne.

In a first-of-its-kind surgery performed last August, Byrne implanted a diaphragm pacemaker in Stanzione's torso that activates the nerves and muscles in his chest, and enables him to breath without the use of a ventilator for up to 13 hours at a clip.

Last October, for the first time in nearly five years, Stanzione returned home to his wife, Debbie, and their 9-year-old son, Brian. While he's currently confined to a wheelchair and requires assistance bathing and clearing his airways, the Bergen Record recently reported that Stanzione's condition is stable and he's determined to walk again.

Next Saturday, singer/guitarist Rich Meyer will bring his "One Man, One Guitar, One Good Time," show to the Fair Lawn  on Maple Avenue in support of Stanzione. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $45 and include food and beverages. Checks made payable to the Knights of Columbus #2853 with Stanzione's name written in the memo section are acceptable.

For tickets or other information about the event, contact Barry Hyman at (201)-213-0370 or BHyman2361@aol.com, Roddy Hughes at (201)-637-0177 or Roddy05@yahoo.com, or John Cosgrove at (201)-572-5637 or JCosgrove@atlantichandling.com.

Related stories:

A Bergen Record article about Mike Stanzione's life since returning home to his family last October

A CBS television report from last October on Mike Stanzione's tearful return home to his family

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