Just hours before Coldplay singer Chris Martin was slated to perform at Chicago’s Soldier Field, he made an unexpected detour to help an area teen.
Martin traveled to Midway Airport Saturday afternoon, where he stopped by a Lou Malnati’s pizzeria.
There, he met 17-year-old Heidi Hernandez, an employee at the restaurant with a heartbreaking story.
Hernandez has been battling a terminal illness called primary sclerosing cholangitis since she was 3 years old. She was diagnosed at age 7 with ulcerative colitis and had begun showing signs of liver failure. She was put on a transplant list and at age 9, a donor was found.
Not long after, it was discovered that Hernandez’s disease had moved to her new liver, making her among a small percent of patients whose disease recurs in a transplanted liver.
Recently, Hernandez was also diagnosed with hepatitis autoimmune and she has started showing signs of liver failure again.
The teen girl, who is a big Coldplay fan, was first thrust into the spotlight last week when Chance the Rapper learned of her situation and surprised her with tickets to see the band at Soldier Field.
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If that wasn’t a big enough surprise, Martin dropped by the Lou Malnati’s where Hernandez works to say hello and spend some time with her.
“I met Chris Martin and it all feels like a dream,” Hernandez said. “He was really encouraging me to not give up and told me I was awesome and to always remember that.”
Hernandez had said she credits listening to Coldplay as something that helped her cope with the challenges of her illness.
Hernandez was joined at the concert by her boyfriend and her manager at Lou Malnati’s.
“[Heidi] has taught me more than I can even offer her,” Sanchez said. “When she first started, what broke the ice and sparked endless conversation was the mutual obsession for Coldplay. Today, I now consider her like a little sister. She is my family.”
