GoFundMe page set up for Palatine Uber driver who was shot in Chicago
An Uber driver from Palatine survived being shot in Chicago, but he has a bullet lodged in his brain and likely permanent loss of vision in one eye.
Family and friends hope the public will help pay for his medical expenses.
Tim Rohr, 56, is hospitalized at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. His wife, Lori Rohr, said doctors have said it's a miracle that he's alive with his neurological and cognitive functions intact. But his life has changed dramatically.
"It's strange when you have a bullet in your head and you're blind in your right eye, and somebody says you're lucky. It doesn't feel like you're lucky," Tim Rohr said. "You're just driving there and randomly getting shot - wrong place, wrong time - and your life changes in a second."
Rohr was shot at 12:54 a.m. Aug. 12 on the 3900 block of South Archer Avenue in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood.
He said he had just dropped off an Uber passenger when he drove by a T-Mobile store with the window smashed and three people inside. Then he heard a shot, he said.
"I felt my blood run out of my nose and I'm like, 'Oh, man. I'm shot in the head,'" he said. "I put the car in reverse, went down the entire block, and as I was doing that, I just heard 'pop, pop, pop' ... just shot after shot after shot."
According to Chicago police, three men were involved in the burglary and the shooting. Police said shots were fired from a white Acura SUV; Rohr said he never saw the SUV. Police said they continue to investigate, and no arrests have been made.
After stopping down the block to gather his thoughts, Rohr said, he spotted a Chicago police squad car and drove up to the officers for help. He was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he underwent surgery.
The bullet entered his back, went through his lung, ricocheted off his jaw and lodged in his brain, he said.
The Rohrs have been married for 27 years and have a daughter, Sophie, who started her junior year at Palatine High School the day after her father was shot. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he couldn't get visitors at the hospital, which made the experience all the more harrowing, his wife said.
He was discharged from Mount Sinai on Aug. 27 but the next day had to be hospitalized in Park Ridge due to a cerebrospinal fluid leak, for which doctors are deciding whether to intervene, the Rohrs said.
Tim Rohr has an engineering degree and worked in engineering and industrial sales until he lost his job in 2009 due to the Great Recession. He held other jobs afterward, but without stable, satisfying employment, he decided to start driving for Uber.
Working seven days a week at 60 or more hours per week, he ended up making enough money, coupled with his wife's income as an instructor for Club Pilates, the Rohrs said.
"You make the best of every situation that you can," Tim Rohr said, adding he enjoyed driving around different neighborhoods in Chicago. His wife said she worried about him getting in a car accident and the dangers of Chicago, especially lately.
The Rohrs have health insurance through the Affordable Care Act but don't know what medical bills they will be facing, along with the loss of Tim Rohr's income and Lori Rohr's reduced income due to COVID-19.
Friend Madeline Franklin of Palatine, who's worked with Lori Rohr at several community theaters, started a GoFundMe page that racked up about $13,000 within a day.
"The outpouring of generosity, love and concern for the Rohrs has been unbelievably amazing," Franklin said.
Tim Rohr said some days he's in better spirits than others and credited his wife for her support.
"She's always there when times are tough. It's been really a beautiful thing," he said.
A normally reserved person, he said being in the spotlight feels a bit awkward, but the GoFundMe has been a "godsend."
"It's not just about me - it's about my wife and my daughter, and we are all in this together," he said.