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Logan Square Steps Up For Popular Ice Cream Vendor With Medical Bills, Broken Down Truck

CHICAGO (CBS) -- People love the ice cream man, but some Logan Square residents are really showing how much they love Mario, an ice cream vendor who's had one tough year.

"Mario had kind of disappeared on us a little bit, and it had been a while since we'd seen him," said one of his customers, Donn Bichsel.

Mario Hernandez knows Logan Square, and the neighborhood knows him. Owner of the popular San Luis Freeze ice cream truck, he has been a summer staple in Logan Square for more than a decade, but his truck was missing for several days this summer.

He's been sending his ice cream truck earnings back to Mexico, where his wife is battling breast cancer.

Unfortunately, his truck broke down and he couldn't pay to fix it. Then, he suffered a heart attack.

So Bichsel started raising money to fix Hernandez's truck and pay his medical bills. It's something Hernandez never asked for and never expected.

"I don't have words for it. I appreciate it, for everything," Hernandez said. "The most important for me is my wife. That's it."

A GoFundMe page for Hernandez has raised more than $10,000 toward its $15,000 goal.

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