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COOK COUNTY, Ill. — A northwest suburban stroke survivor says he was on the receiving end of a delivery driver’s racially-filled tirade.

By Freddy Taylor’s account, 2019 was a challenging year for him and his family.  

In September, he and his fiancée, Erica, celebrated the news that they were expecting a boy.  

“I had one shot. I said, ‘I don’t feel right. I should lay down,’” Taylor said.  

His fiancée said something was off.  

“My entire left side of my face looked like it melted. It was drooping, my left side,” Taylor recalled. “She said, ‘oh my God, he’s having a stroke.’” 

Three months later, Taylor suffered another stroke.  

“This stroke stuff devastated my life, honestly,” he said.  

Life changed dramatically for the father of two, who had to relearn how to do everything. But Taylor is leaning on those he loves the most.  

“Since Erica does everything, I try to help her out as much as I can to give her a break where I can,” Taylor said. “So I use Uber to order food.”

That’s what happened Saturday when he decided to order breakfast. While waiting for the delivery, he took his dog out. Shortly after that, he received a message from the delivery driver.  

“I’m pretty sure I saw his car pull up and he saw me with my dog and that’s how he saw I was a Black,” Taylor said.  

The message was riddled with unprompted expletives and racial slurs–leaving Taylor stunned. 

“People like that, you got to kill with kindness because they want to get a rise out of you,” Taylor said. “I’m not going to go there. So I said, ‘you have a blessed day, sir.’ That’s what I said back.”

Taylor’s fiancée and his mother tried calling Uber’s corporate offices. Taylor was refunded his money and told the incident would be investigated. The driver is now banned, the rideshare company added.

“As outlined in our Community Guidelines, discrimination has no place on the Uber platform. We are horrified by this driver’s conduct and he is banned from the Uber platform.”

Statement from Uber

But Taylor told WGN News his use of the rideshare app is over. Instead, he will focus on the sweeter things in life.  

“It’s not easy chasing a two-and-a-half-year-old around,” Taylor joked. “He’s very active. I’m like, ‘OK, man, relax.’”