MiddletownJournal.com

WEST CHESTER TWP. — Mike Venerable is hard to miss in traffic. The sides of his van are plastered with a wood and fire motif and the logo of Dickey's Barbecue Pit, the restaurant franchise he has opened in West Chester Twp. The van is part catering vehicle, part rolling billboard and is as large as the Mason resident's plans for the franchise.

As he talks business in soft, rapid sentences, it is clear Venerable is a savvy entrepreneur. But that is only half his story.

"Are you shy today?" Venerable's voice rises a few octaves when his 4-year-old daughter, Amanda, enters the restaurant, which opened Dec. 14 in West Chester Twp. The preschooler's wide blue eyes and cherubic smile make it hard to believe she nearly died at birth from complications from twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, a rare and deadly prenatal disorder that took the life of her twin sister, Faith.

"All by itself, TTTS is the single leading cause of death in twins," said Dr. Timothy Crombleholme, director of the Fetal Care Center of Cincinnati and Center for Molecular Fetal Therapy at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center. He is preparing to publish a study on treatments for TTTS. The condition occurs when twins' placentas develop a shared circulatory system, causing premature birth and hampering the twins' development.

"Without treatment it's almost uniformly fatal," he said.

Laura Venerable underwent laser surgery to separate the twins' placentas at the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Milwaukee.

"They literally left no stone unturned," said Mike's brother Steve, who worked with him to launch the restaurant.

Amanda and Faith were born seven weeks later, only 27 weeks into the pregnancy. Amanda weighed one pound, 15 ounces and Faith weighed 17 ounces. While Amanda came home after eight weeks in intensive care, Faith passed away after five months in the hospital.

"We really got a good sense for what parents experience when they have children in (intensive care)," Laura said.

"It's an extremely disruptive time," Mike said. The Venerables were able to hire two nannies to help with Amanda and their two other toddlers, but both recalled meeting families with far less resources. Mike recalls one family that could not afford to ship their deceased child's body back to their hometown.

"That's just not anything that should happen," he said.

In honor of their daughter and the people who helped her, the Venerables have launched Faith's Fund, a discretionary fund that will raise money for Cincinnati Children's Hospital's Regional Center for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

"All the focus is on discretionary money for the RCNIC so they can take care of the families that need help, they can take care of the equipment they need," Mike said.

The Venerables' plan to

grow Faith's Fund parallels

their plans for Dicky's Barbecue Pit. All proceeds from the

restaurant's Dec. 16 grand

opening day, and $5 from every family meal sold in December, will go to the fund. The Venerables say they plan to run fundraisers every season, each time highlighting a need that Faith's Fund can help meet.

"Faith's Fund will allow us to do what we do best, but even better," said Patti Bondurant, senior clinical director for the RCNIC Unit. "This is a selfless act that many of our RCNIC families will benefit from."

Venerable plans to open

another Dickey's in Mason by

the end of 2007, and is making plans to bring the chain to Dayton, Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5127 or mcunningham@coxohio.com