CRANBERRY TWP — Concussions aren't usually associated with congestive heart failure. But for Stephen Popson, this odd combination is a cold reality.

After a car accident nine years ago, Popson suffered a concussion which caused ongoing symptoms of fatigue. To compensate, the Cranberry Township resident began using energy drinks to keep up with his daily work in landscaping — as many as four or five per day over the course of years.

Shortly before turning 26, Popson began to notice a decline in his health.

“I was struggling with breathing,” Popson said, “and my wife went to lay her head down on my chest, and she goes 'Your heart is really racing.' That's when she made me go to the urgent care.”

From urgent care, Popson was sent to the emergency room, where it was discovered that his heart was not functioning properly.

“At first I thought they were just joking,” Popson said, “but they really weren't.”

According to Popson, doctors suspected his consumption of energy drinks to be the cause of his heart's deteriorating condition.

“Everything just kind of went downhill from there,” Popson said.

In the past four years, Popson has had multiple hospital stays at UPMC Passavant and UPMC Presbyterian, but he was always able to return to work.

In April, however, he was hospitalized with severe abdominal pain. Doctors found Popson was in multi-organ failure because his heart was not pumping blood effectively through his body. Popson's condition had become so serious that he went into cardiac arrest in the ICU.

Over the next six days, Popson required four open-heart surgeries. The procedures included the insertion of a pacemaker, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and a bridge-to-transplant pump.

Popson stayed in the hospital for two months following the procedures. He is now home with his family, but he needs a heart transplant.

“I'm on the donor list as inactive,” Popson said. “They want my sternum to heal ... for three months, and then, at my next appointment ... they want to check over me. And then we'll go from there.”

Popson's condition means he can't work, and his family has no income apart from a small amount that his wife, Shelby, earns by providing day care services from their home.

Because of the financial strain, Once Upon A Hero, a nonprofit that hosts fundraising events to help local families or individuals in need, chose Popson to be its 2018 beneficiary.

Dawn Spillane Hack started Once Upon A Hero as a way to channel grief into something positive after her father died while trying to rescue a girl who had fallen off a cliff at McConnells Mill State Park in 2013.

Since its beginning, the organization has aided seven other beneficiaries.

“We were actually having trouble finding someone this year,” Hack said. “We usually like to pick our family a little bit earlier in the year. We went through some applications and didn't feel like we had the right fit. Then we came across the Popsons, and how could you not feel for him? Especially with having young kids at home and a baby on the way, we're happy to be able to help him.”

Popson said he feels blessed by the generosity of the organization. He said the help has lifted a weight from the family, which will be expanding from three children to four in October.

“My wife's pregnant with another baby, and now I have to get a heart transplant,” he said. “It's just a blessing that they picked me.”

The organization will pay bills, including water and electric, for the Popson family, Hack said.

“I know Stephen's father has been helping them with bills and whatnot, but he can only do so much,” she added.

Hack said she believes Popson will be able to get a heart transplant soon after he becomes active on the recipient list. In the meantime, the extent of help Once Upon A Hero can offer to the Popsons is dependent on the funds the organization raises at its two annual events in August and October.

“We really hope to be a temporary presence in their life, just until things get better for them,” she said.

WHAT: Golf outing at Stonecrest Golf Course, 2298 Route 18, Wampum, Lawrence CountyWHEN: 2 p.m. Aug. 11WHAT: Halloween Party at the Mars VFW Post 7505, 331 Mars Valencia Road, MarsWHEN: 6 p.m. Oct. 20Both events are to raise funds for the PopsonsINFO: More information on both events can be found at www.onceuponahero.org/news-and-events