blind musician follow up

hey, here's great news from an additional tribune (chicago) article : (two days ago)



By the time Juan Hernandez, a blind street musician, set up at his spot on the Blue Line to perform last Wednesday, people all over the city
had read of his plight in that morning's Tribune — his guitar had
recently been stolen for the second time.

Their reaction that day and over the past week stunned and gratified him.

Strangers hugged him and wished him well. Others expressed concern for
his well-being. Some leaned in close to press dollar bills into his
hand.

At home, phone calls from friends and family came in "like raindrops," he said.

And people from all over Chicago reached out to Hernandez with offers of new guitars and cash.

By Friday, a downtown pawnshop owner — put in contact with Hernandez
after police made a routine check to see if he'd seen the stolen guitar
— had given Hernandez a blue guitar. What mattered to Hernandez, whose
eyesight has dimmed since childhood, is that it sounded clear and clean.

Then on Monday, Hernandez got word that a national guitar retailer from
which he has purchased before also was offering him a new guitar for
free — even after Hernandez made it clear he already had gotten a used
guitar.

All of it stunned Hernandez, who spoke about his stolen guitar in the
first place because he hoped it might help police find it. He figured
he'd use a guitar borrowed from a friend until he could replace the
stolen one.

"I didn't think people would open their arms to me," said Hernandez,
who regularly performs on the Blue Line subway platform at Dearborn and
Washington streets. "There are more wonderful people than bad people. I
have to believe it."

Chicago police recovered Hernandez's guitar the first time it was taken
in November 2008, after investigators tracked it to a local pawnshop.
This time, detectives had only a vague description of the thief and
little else to go on.

He also has had cash and coins taken from right in front of him and his iPod and cell phone lifted from his bags.

Hernandez, 31, now has chains and locks linking his equipment to make it harder for thieves to take anything.

Meantime, Hernandez is sending thank-you notes to everyone who offered
to help — although he said he plans to turn down any offers of cash.

"I feel more happy working," he said at his Chicago home, where he
lives with his wife and parents. "I'd rather be playing and earn what I
make. ... As long as I have a good instrument to play, good things will
happen."

That attitude is exactly why staff at Guitar Center, a
musical-instrument retailer with stores across the country, including
in Chicago, reached out to help Hernandez.

"It's the core of being a musician," said Jeremy Cole, a program manager for the company. "You get out there and play."

Cole said the company will work with Hernandez to provide him with his "dream guitar."

Randy Cohen — the pawnshop owner, said he donated the guitar because what happened to Hernandez just wasn't right.

Cohen said police came in last Friday to ask if he'd seen the stolen
guitar. Cohen had not but, he said, when he heard about Hernandez, he
felt like he could — and should — help.

"There's no excuse," Cohen said. "It's like kicking someone in the head when they are down on the ground."

The guitar picked out by Hernandez had been sold to the shop by its previous owner, Cohen said.