Advocate Health Care teammate and Chicago Cubs superfan celebrates full-circle moment

Seven years after a simple sign at a Chicago Cubs game led to her receiving a lifesaving kidney donation, Bridgett Kolls returned to Wrigley Field. This time, she was on the mound to throw out the ceremonial first pitch with her donor by her side.

In May 2019, Kolls attended a Chicago Cubs baseball game with a poster that read, “This Lil’ Cubbie Needs a Kidney.” She had been diagnosed with lupus and stage 5 kidney disease at just 20 years old and was told it could be years before the right donor was found. Photos and video captured of Kolls holding up the sign during the game began to circulate, which led to the kidney transplant she desperately needed.

Thomas Alessio saw the picture and felt compelled to help. He reached out to the kidney transplant team at Advocate Christ Medical Center.

“If you have the ability to help someone, I feel like you have a duty to do so,” Alessio says. 

In July 2020, Kolls underwent a successful kidney transplant thanks to Alessio’s compassion. Today, she is living a life she never dreamed possible during those days she spent on dialysis waiting for a donor – preparing for nursing school, traveling and hiking. A nursing assistant on the Cardiovascular Heart Assessment Recovery and Treatment (HART) Unit at Advocate Good Samaritan Medical Center, Kolls helps patients who have undergone various outpatient cardiovascular procedures receive quality care. She says the compassionate care she received throughout her health struggles influenced her decision to work in health care.

“Bridgett is a wonderful patient who advocated for herself all those years ago and has taken great care of herself post-transplant,” says Dr. Darshika Chhabra, medical director and primary transplant nephrologist of the kidney transplant program at Advocate Christ Medical Center.

“She knows she was given a precious gift, and she doesn’t take that for granted.”

Kolls recently returned to Wrigley Field, where her journey began, to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Cubs’ game celebrating health care workers. She was surrounded by family and fellow teammates. Alessio was there alongside her to celebrate the full-circle moment.

“I have goosebumps,” Kolls said after the pitch. “I never expected to be here. I never thought I’d be throwing out the first pitch. This is such a wonderful moment. To be here with my donor. Happy to be alive. I’m so grateful to the team at Advocate for keeping me healthy. I get to live a normal life off dialysis and choose my own path. They play such an important part in my life, and I’ll never forget them.”