Natasha McShane Fights Back!

Just got home from Leo and found this very happy news from Chicago Tribune! I donated and will again. The Party at Local 399 will be a great way to celebrate this tough little girl's victory over the two savages who attacked her. Get on over to the new Local 399 and Party Hardy!


Donations can be sent to:
Natasha McShane Fund
c/o Signature Bank
191 N. Wacker Drive,
Chicago, IL 60606.

Natasha McShane has started talking for the first time since she was brutally beaten with a baseball bat while celebrating with a friend in Bucktown, her family says.

"She's whispering," her grandmother Bernadette McShane said today. "She's trying to talk."

Natasha McShane is speaking "odd words" like "yes" and "no" - not sentences - but slow progress is still progress, her grandmother said.
"I think it's brilliant because there were stories that she would never walk or talk, but I never believed that. I never went down that road," Bernadette McShane said.

"She's a very strong-willed girl, and if anyone can do it, Natasha can," she said.

Natasha McShane, the 23-year-old from Northern Ireland, was one of two women beaten with a baseball bat in April. She was transferred from Northwestern Memorial Hospital to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago last month.

McShane and Stacy Starl Jurich, 24, were walking home from Cans Bar when they were attacked by a man who stole their purses. The two people accused in the attack face a long list of charges, including attempted murder, armed robbery and aggravated battery.

The community has rallied to support the women. Jurich, whose injuries were not as severe as her friend's, is undergoing rehab.

Retired Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan and others will host a benefit for Natasha McShane on Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Local 399 (Operating Engineers) hall, 2260 South Grove St. in Chicago.

Dubbing June 13 as Natasha McShane Day, the Irish community is planning two fundraisers in her honor. The first will be from 1 to 9 p.m. at the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 North Knox Ave., Chicago. A noon mass will precede the event.

Also on the 13th, the public is invited to a benefit at Gaelic Park, 6119 W. 147th Street, Oak Forest, from 3 to 9 p.m. For more information, visit helpnatasha.net or mcshanefund.com.

-- Duaa Eldeibf