A generous gift is helping a Chicago family through a bad situation.

Larry Gilkey, 62, is recovering in the hospital after he was attacked by three teens while on a CTA bus last week. 

From his hospital room at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Gilkey talked about his recovery and his fear of getting back on the CTA again, after what is now his second attack on public transportation in less than two years.

"I feel better, yeah, yeah, I do feel a little better," Gilkey said.

While he feels better, Gilkey, affectionally known as Uncle Larry, has a long road to recovery. 

Last week, three teens viciously attacked the 62-year-old while on the bus along Cicero in West Garfield Park.

"The only thing I remember was getting on the bus. It's the last thing I remember," he said.

On Sunday, Chicago police issued a community alert showing the three teens accused of beating Gilkey. The next day, two of them were charged. Then on Tuesday, 18-year-old Lyndale Roberts was arrested and charged. All three are charged with felonies in an attack that left Gilkey in a medically induced coma for five days with bleeding on the brain.

"They gonna get what they deserve. That's all I got for them. They're gonna get what they deserve," Gilkey said.

His twin brother and nephew have been at his bedside constantly. They want the teenagers to get the harshest punishment.

"If you're making those type of decisions and doing those types of things to innocent people, then you need to be held accountable, and you need to know what that punishment is like," Tavarris Harvey said.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the only attack Gilkey would experience. On July 2, 2024, he was targeted on the Blue Line train at the Forest Park stop.

"I was robbed and attacked. But I walked away from that," he said. 

The family is insisting CTA must improve security on buses and trains to ensure riders are truly safe.

"The second time it happened, you're in a coma. The third time it happens, it's like, what, you're dead now?" Harvey said.

Gilkey said he doesn't know if he could step back on the CTA. He and the family are grateful to those who showed their love of Chicago by donating to his GoFundMe account.

The biggest thanks go to a secret Santa who called the family on Christmas Eve to donate a very large amount of cash and a car with taxes and registration paid in full for one year, so that Gilkey can feel safe when he gets out of the hospital. 

That's the love of Chicago.