Chicago's 'Walking Man' Emerges From Hospital After Street Attack
(CBS) – Chicago's "Walking Man" -- 69-year-old Joseph Kromelis -- is out of the hospital after a well-publicized attack on the street two weeks ago, and he is walking around the city again.
WBBM's Steve Miller talked to him Thursday afternoon.
When we saw Joseph Kromelis, he was sitting on a bench in Millennium Park.
He looks thinner. His hair is still long and gray.
He told WBBM he hopes his eyes get better. They were injured in the attack; now, they are swollen and red.
"I'm feeling better, much better -- little by little. My eyes, I couldn't even open them for a week. Now, they're not too bad, you know?" he says.
WBBM: Do they hurt?
"No, they don't hurt too much. But I've got to go for surgery next Monday, I think."
WBBM: What kind of surgery?
"Well, I think the eye -- the lens -- was knocked out of place a little bit."
WBBM: Is your eyesight OK? Can you see OK?
"I can see, but I don't know if it'll ever be the same, like it was," he replies.
Kromelis says he's grateful to the people who have contributed to the GoFundMe account his nephew set up.
He still hasn't talked to his nephew since the attack. He says he didn't want his nephew to see him in the hospital because he didn't want him to see how bad he looked.
Nearly $33,000 has been raised through the GoFundMe page as of Thursday evening.