{"id":692625,"date":"2026-05-07T11:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/692625\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T11:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:42:16","slug":"chicago-cubs-fan-who-got-kidney-from-white-sox-fan-after-viral-sign-throws-out-first-pitch-at-wrigley-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/692625\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs fan who got kidney from White Sox fan after viral sign throws out first pitch at Wrigley Field"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO (WLS) — On Healthcare Workers Appreciation at Wrigley Field Wednesday, the women chosen to throw out the first pitch who is a healthcare worker had a tremendous amount of appreciation herself for the man who donated her kidney.<\/p>\n

Bridgett Kolls posed for pictures with fellow nurses and others on the field before the Cubs game.<\/p>\n

It was just a few years ago she was in the park hoping for a miracle. Posing in the stands with a sign saying “this lil cubbie needs a kidney.”<\/p>\n

She was 23 years old and desperate for a matching donor kidney. The picture got a lot of play on social media.<\/p>\n

And it got the attention of Thomas Alessio, a White Sox fan from Joliet. Thomas Alessio had never met Kolls, but he was willing to help.<\/p>\n

“If you have the ability to help someone I feel like you have a duty to do so,” Alessio said.<\/p>\n

“I’m active healthy I get to move I’m not tired all the time it’s a big difference,” Kolls said.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Opposing Chicago baseball fans reunite at Crosstown Classic after kidney donation<\/a><\/p>\n

Kolls has been living with the new kidney for the last six years. She’s healthy living a full life and working as a nurse at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital while taking college classes. And she’s grateful.<\/p>\n

“It’s crazy,” Kolls said. “I never expected to be here. Such a wonderful moment. Here with my donor. Never thought I’d be throwing out the first pitch. Happy to be alive.”<\/p>\n

RELATED: Cross-town rivals forever linked: White Sox fan donates kidney to Cubs fan<\/a><\/p>\n

Many of Kolls fellow nurses were there to cheer her on and celebrate.<\/p>\n

There were about 500 people nominated to throw out the first pitch, but Kolls was the easy choice.<\/p>\n

Her pitch makes it to the plate. It may not be a strike. But just be being here Kolls has won the game.<\/p>\n

“It’s full circle,” Kolls said. “I was here with the sign, asking for the kidney… and now I’m gonna be on the field today.”<\/p>\n

Kolls is a lifelong Cubs fan. She’s never been to a Sox game before but she said that’s her goal for this season.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO (WLS) — On Healthcare Workers Appreciation at Wrigley Field Wednesday, the women chosen to throw out the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2399],"tags":[87370,5,87358,138,87362,87363,24,87369,87366,49,4245,87357,87361,87364,161,87368,87365,87367,87356,87360,4,87359],"class_list":{"0":"post-692625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-cubs","8":"tag-87370","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-bridgett-kolls","11":"tag-chicago","12":"tag-chicago-crosstown-classic","13":"tag-chicago-crosstown-series","14":"tag-chicago-cubs","15":"tag-chicago-cubs-white-sox","16":"tag-chicago-cubs-white-sox-game","17":"tag-chicago-white-sox","18":"tag-chicagocubs","19":"tag-crosstown-classic-2022","20":"tag-crosstown-classic-chicago","21":"tag-crosstown-series-chicago","22":"tag-cubs","23":"tag-cubs-sox-crosstown-classic-2022","24":"tag-cubs-sox-game","25":"tag-cubs-white-sox-game","26":"tag-kidney-donation","27":"tag-kidney-transplant","28":"tag-mlb","29":"tag-thomas-alessio"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}