Hank Breaking Tackles, "Stay Strong"

Henry once said to his father, “Dad, stay strong. We are going to beat this thing.”

Hank Schueler was Strong even when his body was failing him. He was Strong when his father was not and could no longer bear to see his firstborn child suffer the indignities of dying when his life was just beginning. Like a great teammate he encouraged his family and loved ones, even when the game looked lost.

This strength and courage is the inspiration behind the 41 & 9 Foundation.  Named after Hank’s jersey #41 in football, and jersey #9 in baseball, the 41 & 9 Foundation will keep the memory of Henry Schueler alive, so his strength can help us discover a cure for pediatric cancer.  Hank helps us remember to “Stay Strong.”

Henry “Hank” Schueler was a 13 year old student athlete from the St. Mary of the Woods School on Chicago’s northwest side.  Henry was diagnosed with a rare subtype (Hypodiploid) of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in November of 2006. Treated initially at Childrens Memorial Hospital in Chicago, he eventually underwent a bone marrow transplant beginning on March 9, 2007, his 14th birthday, at Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin.

Despite the grueling treatment and the significant toll on his body, he made a great recovery.  The same attitude and determination that set him apart on a baseball field or football field was being displayed in his recovery. He graduated with his class from St Mary’s and returned to the baseball diamond with the Edgebrook Bulldogs quicker than his Doctors ever imagined.

Hank began high school at St Patrick’s High School in Chicago in August, 2007 and was relishing the opportunity to once again wear his football and baseball jerseys, 41 & 9, on the fields he loved. But over the Labor Day weekend in 2007, his leukemia returned with a vengeance.

Despite the grim prognosis Henry faced, he chose to fight again. The powerful chemotherapy he again had to endure wiped out his new immune system.  He was left vulnerable for infections. At the end of September, he contracted a fungal infection known as zygomycosis, an invasive infection that invaded his lungs and sinuses.

With the help of his doctors and surgeons at Childrens Hospital in Wisconsin and consultants at the National Institutes of Health, he made a seemingly miraculous recovery.  He was strong enough to return home in October, 2007.  He would not quit fighting and he inspired hundreds of friends and neighbors who followed his medical journey.  As he told his father one night in late October despite his lingering leukemia and fungal infection, “Stay strong dad…we’re going to beat this thing”.

Back in the hospital in Wisconsin, he fought on through November, undergoing more surgical and medical treatments before receiving another bone marrow transfusion the day after Thanksgiving from the same anonymous donor from Germany who had given him hope the previous March. But it was not to be.

The fungus again took hold in his sinuses and soon robbed him of his sight. The infection eventually spread to his brain causing as a massive cerebral hemorrhage and his untimely death on December 14, 2007.

Over 2000 teammates, friends, neighbors and classmates came to his wake and over 1000 attended his funeral. His teammates from St Patrick’s High School, most of whom never played a down or an inning with him, served as the honor guard for his procession. He left behind his parents, Matt and Susan Schueler, his sister Anna, and brother Joe, as well as countless friends and family.

In gratitude for your consideration of our Mission,

Rich Pinskey, President, Ignite the Spirit

Matt Schueler, Founder, Henry Schueler 41 & 9 Foundation

*Both Ignite the Spirit and the Henry Schueler 41 & 9 Foundation are 501 (c) (3) Charitable Organizations.