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The White Sox Podcast w/ Chuck Garfien

How a White Sox fan became an American Hero

The White Sox Podcast w/ Chuck Garfien

Chicago Sports Network

Sports, Sports:baseball, Baseball

4.4612 Ratings

🗓️ 4 July 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 2005, Senior Master Sergeant Israel Del Toro had just watched the White Sox win the World Series while stationed in Afghanistan. One month later, he was seriously wounded in action and his life would be changed forever. Chuck Garfien speaks with Israel about his miraculous recovery, the promise he made to his dad that shaped the rest of his life, his friendships with President George W. Bush, Jon Stewart and Ozzie Guillen, his love for the White Sox and more

Transcript

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0:00.0

Something inside me tells me, dude, you got to get out of this truck.

0:04.6

And I popped the door open, but when I popped the door and I got out, I was on fire from head to toe.

0:12.1

But luckily, there was that creep behind me.

0:14.6

And I turned and run to extinguish the flames, but those flames overtook me.

0:19.4

And I collapsed and I'm laying there and saying,

0:22.2

this is it. I was like, I broke my promise to my family that I always come back. I broke my promise

0:28.8

to my son that I'll never let him grow up without his dad like I did. But most importantly,

0:33.7

I'm going to break my promise to my dad that I always take care of my family.

0:39.1

And I'm laying there thinking, this is it.

0:41.3

And that's when my teammate says, D.T., you're not going to die here.

0:51.5

Hey, everybody.

0:52.5

It's Chuck Arfine.

0:53.5

Welcome to this special edition of the White Sox Talk podcast brought to by Win Trust.

0:59.0

I'm inside our virtual podcast studio powered by Pointsback.

1:03.0

On the 4th of July, we celebrate the birth of our country and the freedoms we enjoy,

1:08.5

thanks in large part to the men and women who have been on the front lines fighting for our freedoms.

1:15.3

And today on the podcast, I speak with Israel del Toro, a living American hero and White Sox fan, who was a special ops paratrooper on tour in Afghanistan in 2005.

1:28.3

Soon after the White Sox won the World Series, his Humvee rolled over a landmine and his life would never be the same.

1:36.3

More than 80% of his body was badly burned.

1:39.3

He was in a coma for three months.

1:42.3

He had a 15% chance of survival. And if he survived,

1:46.3

doctors told him he would never walk or breathe properly again on his own. President George

...

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