FOXBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski had a busy off-season, from swimming with sharks to learning how to play field hockey. However, a hospital visit with a Chicopee fan fighting for her life stood out.
7News talked to Gronkowski one-on-one about meeting Lauren Meizo, 27, who is battling a rare form of muscular dystrophy.
Meizo spent months in the hospital waiting for a second heart transplant, along with a kidney transplant. While there, she made a video calling out to the Patriots’ high-profile player in hopes of meeting him.
“I would love for Rob Gronkowski to have a meet and greet with me,” she said in the video.
Gronkowski caught wind of the video and set out to visit Meizo just days later.
“Lauren, she was going through a tough time and needed another heart transplant,” Gronkowski told 7News. “She got it! Her second one, a couple months after I visited her.”
Meizo found out mid-May that she would get the transplant that she needs.
Gronkowski said he could sympathize with what Meizo was going through.
“I’ve been through those tough times, obviously not to that point, but I understand what it’s like to be sitting in the hospital,” he told 7News.
Going forward, Gronk hopes to keep helping people like Meizo. He recently participated in One Mission’s Buzz Off for Kids with Cancer at Gillette Stadium Sunday, which raises millions for kids with cancer at three area hospital.
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