Fundraiser for Eddy Castillo

It is with heavy and broken hearts that we write this on behalf of our father, Eduardo Castíllo.

On Friday September 29th, 2023 our amazing, hard-working father suffered a massive brain bleed while at work. He works as a Locksmith at the Palmer House, and is just one year shy of his 10-year anniversary there. He loves his job as well as the people he works with. His coworkers have also told us how much they love him and how much he means to the company. The day before our dad’s brain bleed, he walked across a stage at the Palmer House and accepted an award for 25 years of service in the Carpenter’s Union. Our father became a carpenter as a teen/young adult by walking onto job sites and asking for work. He worked as a carpenter for many decades while supporting his 4 young children. Joining the Union as a carpenter meant a lot to him. We remember him talking about the benefits as well as the meetings he attended. Just a few years ago, he took on the role of teaching the craft of Locksmithing through the Union. Our dad has done it all. We are constantly amazed by how much he knows, and the things he can do. He is an example of what a true man should be: a provider, skillful, reliable, and compassionate.

Around 3pm that Friday, our dad called his coworkers to come help him in his office because he was not feeling well. He was complaining of a headache, neck pain, and blurry vision. Thankfully, his coworkers got to him on time before he went unresponsive. They assisted him to the ground and called 9-11. He was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where a team of Neurosurgeons were waiting for him. They had to stabilize our dad immediately by controlling his high blood pressure as well as intubating him to protect his airway. He then got a Head CT which showed a massive brain bleed. This required a drain to be placed through his skull to get the blood out and relieve pressure off of his brain.

The doctors told us that the cause of our dad’s brain bleed was an arteriovenous malformation, or AVM. An AVM is a tangle of abnormal blood vessels in which an artery bypasses a capillary bed and connects directly to a vein. Without the capillaries, which normally reduce blood pressure, high-pressured blood causes the arteries and veins making up the AVM to dilate over time, which weakens them and makes them susceptible to hemorrhage.

Our dad means so much to us. He has always provided for us and supported us in everything we have done. Our childhood was really special because of him. He came to every single baseball, soccer, and basketball game as well as dance performances. He attended our school plays and events dressed in his best suit with a bouquet of flowers for his daughters. He never missed a Father-Daughter dance. He kept us active and took us on many adventures. Most of the time we were outside in nature whether it was riding our bikes throughout town, at the pool, parks, fairs, museums, or local events. He took us out to eat at our favorite restaurants on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings after church. Summer days spent at North Ave. Beach with him were especially memorable.

To this day, we still talk about the amazing times we had with our dad and realize how blessed we are to have him. He is very active in our lives and still provides for us as adults. He helps us with our apartments, school tuition, car maintenance, and phone bills. It was surprising to us after this happened when we realized the full scope of everything he did for us. We all expressed our love and gratitude to him, but he truly deserved every bit and more.

Please keep our family in your prayers, which is most important of all. More than anything we just want our dad to make a meaningful recovery and be reminded of how much he is loved and admired by many people. Eddy has many many challenges to overcome, but he is strong and if anybody could make it through such a situation it would be him. Thankyou

*any messages attached to donations will be printed out and attached to a poster-board that we will put in his room. We feel it would be a greatly motivating for him when he is able to read those messages and pull strength from on his long journey of rehab

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