Getting dragged and thrown from a car last year was only the beginning of a new, difficult chapter for Officer Alvin Porrata.
When emergency doctors treated the veteran Chicago police officer for multiple injuries to his legs and upper body, they discovered an even graver threat to his life -- cancer. The illness -- diagnosed as Stage 4 esophageal cancer -- has weakened Porrata, 53, who, before knowing he was sick, worked out five days a week for two hours a day.
"My life will never be the same," a fatigued-sounding Porrata said Saturday in a telephone interview. "I've always lived a healthy lifestyle."
As he accepted the Police Blue Star Award, given to cops hurt in the line of duty, last week from Superintendent Garry McCarthy, Porrata struggled to make it across the stage of the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Clad in their dress blues, a couple of hundred of Porrata's police brethren roared with applause as the once rugged, physically fit officer was helped on and off the stage by officers, including his former partner, Lt. Allison Schloss.
"With the difficulties that he's had, there's nothing more that he wanted than to be able to walk across that stage to receive the award," said Schloss, who worked with Porrata several years ago before she was promoted. "There was a sense of pride in him in ... being given the award."
Porrata, now on sick leave, is assigned to the Near North District's entertainment venue team, which patrols areas around Chicago's premier bars and nightclubs.
At about 2:10 a.m. on June 13, 2011, Porrata was working on foot with his supervisor, Sgt. Ralph Egan, and other officers near North Avenue and Kingsbury Street in the Weed Street night life area.
Porrata and his partner stopped a motorist in a 2006 Jaguar for failing to wear a seat belt. After the driver refused to show his license, police say he suddenly accelerated, striking Porrata and pinning his legs under the car. According to a police report, Porrata was dragged for 20 to 30 yards while holding onto the hood as he tried to avoid being pulled under the vehicle.
After Porrata was thrown from the Jaguar before it sped away, Egan said Porrata looked badly hurt on the pavement.
"It looked like it could go either way on the street," Egan said. "You have to put aside emotions and then just get an ambulance there, get the crime scene secured and get him to the hospital as quickly as possible."
The driver of the Jaguar, Rodney Steele, who was also wanted on weapons and bribery offenses, ditched the car in Bridgeport before police caught and arrested him. He was convicted of aggravated battery to a police officer and other felonies and sentenced to 9 years in prison.
Doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital treated Porrata for injuries to both knees, his right shoulder, numerous cuts and bruises to the legs, right arm and upper body, and a knocked out tooth.
"We were in the (hospital) room," Egan said, "and I remember the doctor coming in, and (telling Porrata), 'You know, you're banged up pretty bad, but you should recover from all this stuff. The thing I'm concerned about are these spots on your lungs.'"
Egan said he and the other officers were trying to keep Porrata calm without "focusing on the negative." But soon the doctors realized he had cancer.
Porrata took the news with characteristic strength, Egan said.
"Al (has) handled things with a lot of grace and humor. He's been unbelievably strong through this whole thing. He's been my hero," Egan said. "He's a tough guy and he's fought this thing. He's never given up."
Before that day, Porrata put himself through a rigorous fitness regimen at home. An average workout for Porrata would consist of a two-mile run on his treadmill, 20 to 30 minutes on a heavy punching bag, 400 sit-ups, a 30-minute session on his exercise bike at its highest speed, 370 push-ups and 50 pull-ups, he said.
"There's no one in this department who works out harder than I (did). ... Literally, I was an exercise machine," Porrata said. "My nephew thought I was insane."
With the chemotherapy and radiation treatments, though, working out has been difficult. He says he exercises at least one day a week, but the rigor of his workouts are nothing close to what they once were.
Schloss, who partnered with Porrata several years ago to patrol the crime-ridden Cabrini-Green public housing complex, says his ordeal has spoken volumes about his character.
"He fought this with courage that you wonder where he's mustered it from," she said. "He struggles every day. He doesn't want medication. He's a courageous guy."
The 20-year veteran officer says he's eager to keep finding ways to stay in shape, though much of his energy has been depleted.
"I'll fight it all the way down to the wire," he said. "My heart and my mind refuse to stop."
Copyright 2012 - Chicago Tribune
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
