Chinatown

Family Reunited With Patriarch After He Was Left in Coma by Vicious Attack

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A family was left frantically searching for their beloved patriarch for days, but they’ve been reunited with him after he was beaten and left for dead in the Chinatown neighborhood earlier this month.

According to authorities, 61-year-old Jin Lew was violently assaulted and robbed on April 6. He was then found by Chicago street cleaners, robbed of his wallet and his vehicle, and was rushed to the hospital.

Due to serious head injuries, Lew was left in a coma, and hospital employees and police were unable to identify him for several days.

“The ambulance picked him up, he went to the hospital, and he had to have a craniotomy, where they cut open his head to decompress his brain,” Dr. Kim Tee said.

Finally, a worker noticed that he matched the description of a man who had been reported missing by his family after the attack, and he was reunited with loved ones.

Lew’s story is a remarkable one, having immigrated to the United States in the early 1980’s. He is well-known in Chinatown thanks to his work as a head chef in the community for over 40 years, but his life was forever changed when he was violently assaulted last week.

After his son reported him missing, the family put together a Facebook page, and it was there that hospital workers got the information they needed to identify him.

“Taking personal property is one thing, but now they are being progressively more violent toward victims,” Lew’s family said in a statement. “This needs to stop. City leaders need to do something about it and find and punish those responsible.”

As the police investigation continues into the case, Tee is asking for prayers and support, with the hope that Lew can regain consciousness.

“We just need to pray hard that Mr. Lew will wake up and speak to us about what happened,” Tee said.

Doctors at the hospital where Lew is being treated say that he could remain in a coma for weeks or even months, and his prognosis remains uncertain.

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