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Former Bears coach Mike Ditka waived a speaking fee that can fetch up to $30,000, then wrote a $5,000 check Wednesday to help a teen paralyzed from the neck down after a collision in a high school football game last September.The NFL Hall of Famer penned the check quietly as he boarded a flight after speaking to about 250 people who attended a $100-a-plate fundraiser for 17-year-old Travis Hearn of Rock Island."The gesture at the end of the night is typical of the man," said Rock Island football coach Vic Boblett, an organizer of the fundraiser. "That Coach Ditka did it where he did proves he doesn't need to make a scene with his generosity."Ditka, who coached the Bears to a Super Bowl win in 1985 and also won an NFL title as a player with the Dallas Cowboys, said he carved time out of a hectic schedule to help Hearn's cause."You can't undo what was done, but you can make his life more comfortable," Ditka said. "I believe I have an obligation to do these kinds of things."

'Da Coach' pitches in for paralyzed player on ChicagoSports.com