Overview
- Bridgett Kolls threw the ceremonial first pitch Wednesday at Wrigley Field during a Healthcare Workers Appreciation night.
- Her 2019 sign at a Cubs game that read “This lil Cubbie needs a kidney” spread online and drew responses from strangers.
- Thomas Alessio, a White Sox fan from Joliet, reached out to the transplant team at Advocate Christ Medical Center after seeing the plea.
- Kolls and Alessio completed a successful living‑donor kidney transplant in 2020, and she now works as a nursing assistant at Advocate Health Care.
- The public reunion highlights organ donation awareness across rival fan bases and shows how living donors can shorten long waits for a kidney.