CHICAGO (WLS) — They ensure that the trains keep running and do heavy work in all weather conditions.
CTA track workers have each other’s backs, and in the case of two colleagues, much more.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
Alex Gonzalez, a 40-year-old married father of two college-age daughters, learned last spring that he needed a lifesaving kidney transplant.
“Disbelief,” Gonzalez said. “I kept it to myself for a while.”
But one day, fellow Tracker employee Lee Stark noticed something was wrong.
“I asked, ‘Hey, what’s going on? Are you okay?’ And then he told me, ‘No, everything’s not fine. I was just diagnosed with stage four kidney failure,’” Stark said. “I asked him what his blood type was, and then I said, ‘Well, I have a spare kidney . Do you want one?’”
González was stunned.
“He was the first person at work that I told what my situation was,” Gonzalez said. “Right away he said, no questions asked, nothing. He said, ‘Where do I sign?’”
Weeks later, doctors at Loyola University Medical Center told Stark he was a match.
“I told him, ‘Hey, I’m approved. When do you want to do this?’” Stark said.
“Then I broke down. We both broke down,” Gonzales said.
“I think as a track department we all look out for each other in some way,” Stark said.
Colleagues of Gonzales and Stark are also doing their best to raise money to help them both while they are away from work recovering.
“I’m still at a loss for words. I’m just speechless. It’s just amazing,” Gonzales said.
The transplant operation is scheduled for Wednesday.
You can find the GoFundMe for Gonzales and Stark here.
Copyright © 2024 WLS-TV. All rights reserved.