Brain Tumor Patient Loses Everything but Cats in Fire
Here’s a happy ending story for you: A man with a brain tumor arrives home to find his home in flames. His first thought is of his “therapeutic” cats, Boo Boo and Mew Mew:
When Glen Schallman got off the bus after work on Thursday, he gasped at the sight of his Rolling Meadows apartment building on fire.
Schallman, who has survived with a brain tumor, watched as all his possessions went up in flames.
“I just yelled, ‘My cats! My cats!’ I went into a major panic,” said Schallman.
The sudden and extreme stress apparently triggered a seizure and paramedics brought Schallman to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village.
While in his hospital bed, Schallman was relieved to learn that Boo Boo Kitty, a domestic black cat, and Mew Mew, a tuxedo cat, were actually rescued unharmed. They were brought to an animal hospital in Schaumburg for observation and boarding.
“Boo Boo Kitty was found under the covers and Mew Mew was found under the bed,” said a tearful 50-year-old, who works at Build-A-Bear Workshop in Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg. “It’s a miracle that they are still alive.”
Schallman was a resident of 12 Oaks, where a fire Thursday consumed most of the three-story building, west of Route 53 and south of Algonquin Road. The fire reportedly broke out around 3:30 p.m. and took roughly three hours to extinguish. Twenty-seven families were displaced. Many have been staying at area hotels or with friends or relatives.
Rolling Meadows police and fire officials said Saturday that the case remains under investigation.
Schallman has been a resident of 12 Oaks since last October, arriving here from Phoenix, Ariz., to seek more medical treatment for his seizures. He was diagnosed in 2002 with hypothalamic hamartoma, a rare benign brain tumor located near the hypothalamus.
After his diagnosis, the former travel agent went on disability. He also acquired Boo Boo Kitty and Mew Mew as kittens. As the cats grew up, he says, they instinctively laid across his chest or seemingly felt for a pulse when he was having health problems. “They are my therapeutic cats,” he said.
Schallman said he doesn’t know what he’ll do once he’s released from the hospital, possibly on Sunday. He’s arranging to stay with friends in Chicago until he can sort out what’s left, if anything, of his belongings. He then must find another place to live and start rebuilding his life.
One thing is certain. His beloved Boo Boo Kitty and Mew Mew are alive and he longs to be reunited with them, possibly as early as Monday.
“I’m really stressed out and very scared,” he said. “I’ve lost everything. But I just have to keep going. I love life and I’m not going to give up.”
Source: The Daily Herald
Who can we contact for donations or other ways to help this man?
Hi Skeezy, What a wonderful ending to a tragic story. We wish him the very best!
Darwin, I wasn’t able to find out any other information about where to send donations, but here is where he works:
Build-A-Bear Workshop
G314 Woodfield Mall
Schaumburg, IL 60173
Phone: (847) 517-4155
The brain tumor is benign, but we sure do admire this man for continuing to work while getting treatment, and for obviously loving his kitties. A real HE-Man!
Man we are so glad that the cats were okay. That was an amazing story. I hope that things work out for him
I implore the government for citizen and kitty bailouts when things like this happen!
Mom would much rather see her tax dollars funneled into a citizen fund than bail out large entities while their CEOs retain large salaries and perks.
Bless this man and bless those sweet kitties.
[...] Brain Tumor Patient Loses Everything but Cats in Fire [...]
Thank fur those kitties are all right. Meowmie can attest purrsonally to kitty therapy fur anxiety. Kitties like that need to be given special status like guide and companion dogs are.