A Chicago man is in a medically-induced coma after he was attacked outside a Little Italy bar on Saturday.
Andrew O'Connell, 31, was watching football at the Drum and Monkey Tavern (1435 W. Taylor St.) on Thursday and went back to the bar at around 1:30 a.m. when they were closing down.
"The individual tried to come back in. I denied him. Five min later a girl came up screaming saying someone was on the ground hurt," the bar's bouncer, Chris Thomas, said.
They found the 6-foot-4 victim in front of the museum next door limp and bloodied.
"He was bleeding from the side of the head, unconscious," Thomas said. "People tried to pick him up but I said to just wait for the paramedics."
A few witnesses say they saw people kicking O'Connell in the head, according to the victim's sister, Katie O'Connell.
"It's difficult to see him suffering, not knowing the status of his recovery," she said. "No one would want to be in this situation. We don't know if we'll ever get the story from him."
O'Connell underwent emergency brain surgery. His family didn't find him until Sunday after three agonizing days of not knowing where he was.
There doesn't appear to be any surveillance video of the attack, so the victim's family is hoping someone who saw the attack will provide more details.
O'Connell, one of eight children and a 2000 graduate of Fenwick High School, had just started a real estate job three days before he was attacked.
