GARFIELD RIDGE — One of the neighborhood’s favorite pizza makers recently opened his eyes for the first time since a train struck him on his way home from a carnival.
Nick Fox, a 52-year-old pizza man who has worked at Obbie’s Pizza for more than two decades, will soon move from a bed at Advocate Christ Medical Center to a rehabilitation center, where it will take at least four months for him to be able to walk again, family members said.
“He’s going to need a lot of rehab,” said his cousin, Maria Molinaro.
The accident happened June 26 at 60th and Narragansett, police said.
Fox was on his way home from St. Daniel's carnival on his bicycle when a train knocked him into the path of another train. The impacts broke his pelvis, his hand, an ankle and ribs.
Fox had severe bleeding on his brain, forcing doctors to put him in a medically induced coma to allow brain swelling to heal.
Fox has since been weaned off the coma-inducing drugs. He is still unable to talk, but it appears he understands friends and family when they talk to him.
“He seems to understand when you tell him to squeeze your hand,” Molinaro said.
When Fox woke up, he had trouble breathing. Doctors performed a tracheotomy to clear his windpipe and allow him to breathe.
If you’ve ever walked into Obbie’s Pizza at 6654 W. Archer Ave. to pick up an order, you’ve probably seen Fox planting pieces of sausage into a sauced-up circle of dough before sliding it into the oven.
His work making pizzas since the 1980s has turned him into one of the neighborhood’s favorite characters.
Fox’s friends and family started a GoFundMe page to raise money for his medical expenses.
“I see this guy all the time at Obbies,” wrote Garfield Ridge resident Neal Riggio. “I don't personally know him, but I wish him a speedy recovery.”
As of Monday night, the GoFundMe page had raised more than $10,000.
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