Alligator Robb recovering from life-threatening heart surgery; thanks Chicagoans for donations

Florida alligator expert Frank Robb receives a round of applause as he holds an alligator during a news conference, Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in Chicago. Robb captured the elusive alligator in a public lagoon at Humboldt Park early Tuesday. At left is Kelley Gandurski, executive director of Chicago Animal Care and Control.
Florida alligator expert Frank Robb receives a round of applause as he holds an alligator during a news conference, Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in Chicago. Robb captured the elusive alligator in a public lagoon at Humboldt Park early Tuesday. At left is Kelley Gandurski, executive director of Chicago Animal Care and Control. Photo credit AP Photo/Amr Alfiky

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The man who helped capture the Humboldt Park alligator two years ago is on the mend after undergoing life-threatening heart surgery.

Frank Robb, otherwise known as Alligator Robb to Chicagoans, helped capture a missing alligator in the Humboldt Park Lagoon during the summer of 2019. The multi-day hunt became a local sensation.

Thanks to Robb's efforts the alligator was eventually caught and sent to an alligator farm in Florida, but not before it was named Chance the Snapper, after the famous recording star and South Side native Chance the Rapper.

Late last year though, Robb discovered he needed heart valve surgery. According to Block Club Chicago, he didn’t have health insurance and struggled to find a surgeon who would perform the risky procedure.

A GoFundMe was created to pay for the procedure and $50,000 was raised.

Now the 41-year old is recovering in Cocoa, Florida.

When he's able to do so, Robb said he wants to return to Chicago to personally say thanks to those who donated to the fundraiser, but first, he said, he wants to visit his old friend Chance, who lives at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park in St. Augustine, Florida.

Featured Image Photo Credit: AP Photo/Amr Alfiky