Not the first time Arlington Heights postal worker's life was saved, dad says
The 36-year-old postal worker shot in Elk Grove Village on New Year's Eve is doing well as he recovers from his critical injuries - the second time he's survived a harrowing incident in his life, his family said Wednesday.
Stephen Casazza Jr. of Arlington Heights was shot three times while he delivered packages in a residential area Monday night. Cameron Ruebusch, 24, of Elk Grove was charged Wednesday with assaulting a federal employee with a weapon in connection with the shooting.
Casazza's father, Stephen Sr., on Wednesday recalled the last time his son was being treated at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. It was after a sledding accident during a Boy Scout winter campout in 1992.
Casazza Jr. had to be airlifted from the campsite in Woodstock to the hospital, where doctors inserted 19 plates and 27 screws in his head.
"Here he is again, laying there, and it looks like they saved his life again," Casazza Sr. said.
Casazza Jr., a postal employee for nearly two years, underwent four hours of surgery Monday night and received some 40 units of blood in the process. He sustained major nerve damage, especially in his right hand, where he has no feeling, his dad said.
His father thanked neighbors on Brantwood Avenue who came to his son's aid after they heard gunshots, called 911, and waited until police and paramedics arrived.
"If these neighbors didn't call when they did, he would have bled out," Casazza Sr. said. "I'd like to thank them personally."