'Idol' Run Raises Fiancée's Spirits, Funds

Juliana Ramos cried watching her fiancé Chris Medina's American Idol audition. The simple act left her friends and family ecstatic at the show of unsolicited emotion.

"That's the first time she had shown emotion, on her own," said her cousin, Allison Carroll. "We've asked her for smiles before, and she would smile for us, but this was the first time she did it without us asking.

"It speaks volumes to their relationship."

Each time Medina takes the Idol stage, Ramos, who is in recovery from a Traumatic Brain Injury, shows glimmers of the girl they knew before her 2009 car accident.

"We've seen more life out of Juli," Carroll said. "She's still crazy about him. Her getting to see him go through his dreams, will be uplifting."

Theirs is a love story known locally — and now, not so locally — after .  Medina's name has been plastered across the Internet and media, with stories in Us Weekly, SouthtownStar, Chicago Tribune, and a segment on ABC-7. He's quickly become the chatter of the show's tenth season.

But Ramos was famous long before Idol. A theater enthusiast and aspiring beautician, spending five minutes with Juli, leads to crushes on her, Carroll said.

"She's fun-loving, outgoing. She's so passionate and animated," she said. Ramos chose beauty school for the contact and interaction with clients it would allow her.

"She liked it because she could talk to her clients all day," Carroll said. 

Ramos spends much of her average day working through therapy or different exercises. While some worried her heart wouldn't be in it, personal trainer Mary Golembeck disagrees.

"I was told she would not like to work out at all, and it's quite the opposite," Golembock said.

Ramos works out using 10 different machines, three times a week at LA Fitness, Golembeck said.

"I see a side of Juliana I thought I would never see," she added, noting that Medina has passed along his own personal notes on exercising with Ramos."It's great to see her work very hard, and do it."

"Chris is very hands-on with Juli," Golembeck said. "He's has shown us different techniques of phyiscal therapy she's been doing for months.

"We're hoping we can fill his shoes."

'They were the perfect couple'

Ramos and Medina are well-matched before the accident, and his role in her recovery has only reinforced it, Carroll said.

"They 'got' each other so well," she said. "They always seemed to understand what each other's needs were."

Both were Starbucks baristas at different locations, with friends across communities. Medina's devotion to Ramos was never clearer than the day he proposed.

"The day they got engaged, it was the best day ever," Carroll said. "You just knew that their marriage would be right, and they were supposed to be together."

Medina's motivation has never faltered. Though family members have always accepted him, his dedication to Ramos' recovery has reinforced his love for her, and their respect for him.

"He's been incredible, it's been an eye-opener for our family," Carroll said. Medina's stays at Ramos' Oak Forest home involve stretching exercises that are painful for Ramos, which she dreads. Best friend Sarah Mitchell recalls a dinner where a sneaky Medina ducked under the kitchen table to stretch her feet, as Mitchell kept her distracted.

"People need to know that he really is the great guy that was portrayed on TV," Carroll said.

'Everyone wants to be with you, and I get to'

— Juliana Ramos, to Chris Medina after his Idol audition.

Family are using Medina's Idol run as extra "oomph" in Ramos' routine, prodding her to keep working at her recovery so the two can marry. But they're not the only ones, as an entire community has rallied behind her.

The day of her accident, as many as 70 supporters crowded the waiting room at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn. Fifteen days after the 2009 accident (just months before they were to be married), 500 fans showed up to the first benefit in her name held at Gaelic Park. The party had been planned as her bridal shower, Carroll said.

"It was still all about Juli, but in a different way," Carroll said.

After Medina's first appearance on Idol, donations skyrocketed for
Juliana's recovery fund with the Laurus Foundation. Local businesses, like  and 115 Bourbon Street  have stepped up, offering , with proceeds donated into Juli's fund. Blarney Stone owner Tom Spellman said the fundraiser has boosted carryout and delivery orders; a reservation came in for 50 to 100 people at Wednesday's viewing party. At all viewing parties, T-shirts will be sold for $10 each. Other past benefits have also been held at Hollstein's in Tinley Park.

"It's almost surreal to see what everyone is willing to do," Carroll said.

Tonight's Idol watch party will be held at 115 Bourbon Street. Friends and family, including Juliana, will be in attendance.

• 115 Bourbon Street: Meet Medina's fiancée and Oak Forest resident Juliana Ramos, and watch Medina's appearance in the Hollywood round with Medina's friends and family. Help pack the place to show some Southside love for Medina. All ages welcome. Bar will offer $1.50 Domestic Bottles, $2.50 Long Islands on special. Try a $3 "Medina Bomb," a shot  in honor of the Southside's own, Chris Medina.

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