All William Ingles wants to do is go outside and play with his three young sons.

Instead, he lies in a hospital bed in Philadelphia, weakened by heart failure and anxiously waiting for a heart transplant.On Tuesday, the heart transplant team at the University of Pennsylvania Health System met to discuss Ingles’ case and officially approved his application to be placed on the transplant waiting list.For Ingles, 36, of Lansford, the journey to a new heart began before he was even born.A congenital heart defectIngles, “Will” to his friends, was born with transposition of the great arteries.The heart defect, which happens in a developing fetus for reasons that have yet to be determined, is when two main arteries carrying blood away from the heart are reversed.When that happens, the blood pathway is impaired because the two arteries are connecting to the wrong chambers in the heart.At 10 months, Ingles had lifesaving surgery.“It’s called the Mustard procedure,” he said. “Basically, they installed a baffle.”The procedure allows his arteries to do their job, but it’s not a perfect fix.Progression“My heart beats in crisscross rather than in one side and out the other. Because of that, the biologically weaker ventricle was now pumping the blood into my body. After about 30 years, it finally started to give out,” Ingles said.Life went on for Ingles, a tech support trainer for PenTeleData.In 2007, he married Erin Jarrett, and the couple’s first son, Theory, now 8, was born a year later.The first sign of trouble surfaced in the winter of 2009.“I thought I had asthma. But one morning before work, it was real bad. I gave myself a breathing treatment for asthma, but it didn’t do anything,” he said.They dropped Theory off at his parents’ house, and Ingles was so sick he was helped inside and an ambulance was called.He was taken to Lehigh Valley Health Network, Cedar Crest, and eventually wound up at the University of Pennsylvania Health System.He was diagnosed with congestive heart failure.“They did a whole transplant work-up for me. They wanted to (put me on the transplant list) then,” he said.“But everything was so sudden. I was just, let’s pump the brakes here. I wasn’t ready for that,” he said.Instead, Ingles was treated with medication.CrisisBut on Oct. 20, the Ingles’ lives were turned upside down.Ingles collapsed at work when his heart went into ventricular tachycardia, a fast heart rhythm that starts in the lower part of the heart.Ingles had gotten an implanted pacemaker as a child, and some years later had a new one, with a built-in defibrillator, implanted.“That saved his life,” Erin says.Ingles was taken to Palmerton Hospital, and from there flown to the University of Pennsylvania, where he has been since.There, Ingles was again evaluated for a transplant.With a new heart, her husband could do what he misses most, Erin says.“Playing with the kids, kicking a ball around, running around after them,” she says. “That’s the biggest thing, not being able to go out and run around with them.”Managing now, looking to the futureAs Ingles waits, his family, which now includes sons Dare, 7, and Silas, 2, visits every chance they get.But managing, especially with Christmas close at hand and the cost of travel to Philadelphia, is challenging. Ingles, the sole breadwinner, is on short-term medical leave from work, and so is on a reduced salary.Erin has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover expenses. Those interested in helping the family can visit the site at

https://www.gofundme.com/br-help-for-william.