CHICAGO — A man brutally beaten on Taylor Street in Little Italy remains in a coma nearly a week after the attack, according to the organizers of an online fundraiser to help pay the man's medical bills.
The 31-year-old man was was injured during a "physical altercation" at 1:39 a.m. Sept. 6 in the 1400 block of West Taylor Street, police said.
He was last listed in critical condition at Stroger Hospital.
The man was identified as Andrew O'Connell by an online fundraiser that has attracted nearly $38,000 for his medical bills.
The website says O'Connell lives in Chicago and was "savagely attacked." O'Connell was in a medically-induced coma due to swelling in his brain after the attack, "Friends of Andrew" posted.
On Wednesday, a post said O'Connell was in a "regular brain injury coma" at Rush University Medical Center, but his breathing tube was removed. The post called it a "positive day for Andrew."
"There is no exact time to predict when he will get out of the coma so we are in a Wait and See situation," the website said.
O'Connell was also described as a "great friend, kind, funny, and loyal as can be."
No one is in custody for the incident, police said Thursday.
Family members say O'Connell was leaving a bar after watching a football game when the attack occurred.
"It's been a nightmare, one that shouldn't happen to anybody," Liz Wos, a sister of O'Connell, told ABC-7.
He was found laying in front of the National Italian Sports Hall of Fame at 1431 W. Taylor St., family said.
An employee of the Drum and Monkey who declined to be named said O'Connell was in the bar three hours before the incident but was not in the bar prior to the incident.
"He tried to come back in, but we told him he ... couldn't come back in" because he appeared drunk, said the employee.
The bar employee said fights are rare outside of the bar.
A bouncer at the Drum and Monkey Tavern, 1435 W. Taylor, told NBC-5 that shortly after 1:30 a.m. "a girl came up screaming someone was on the ground hurt."
A few witnesses said they saw people kicking O'Connell in the head, NBC-5 reported.
