Before the gates opened Wednesday for the Mets-White Sox game at Citi Field, a group of pediatric cancer patients got to hear from a pair of cancer survivors and know that, disease or not, they can still do anything.
Even play in the major leagues.
The tour guides for the group happened to be Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco and White Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks, survivors of chronic myeloid leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, respectively.
Carrasco, who went through treatment four years ago, regularly talks to pediatric cancer patients as part of his Cookie’s Kids initiative.
Hendriks, who only returned to the White Sox in May, asked if he could join Carrasco and the group from Cohen Children’s Hospital on Wednesday.
“He came over and he wanted to do this,” Carrasco said before the Mets’ 5-1 win. “It’s a lot of people who can see that and get experience where, if we can make it, they can make it, too. I know sometimes it’s hard to believe that, but if he made it, if we made it, [they can].
“We’re just giving hope to another family. If we can do it, we’re still here and pitching, let’s do it together.”
Hendriks, who was honored at the recent ESPYs with the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, has become a spokesman for combating cancer. When he was diagnosed, the White Sox heard from families throughout Chicago saying they had gone through something similar.
So Hendriks figured it had to be the same in other cities.
Now, he makes it a point to visit cancer patients on the road as well as in Chicago.
Knowing that Carrasco takes the same initiative for the Mets made it a perfect platform to do something together.
“It was great today, being able to talk to him about his stuff, what he went through and everything and relate the stories,” Hendriks said. “I feel like it takes the edge off when you talk about treatment plans. I
“It’s trying to remove the stigma of going through treatment or cancer, not wanting to talk about it, not wanting to bring anyone else down or anything else like that.
“It’s more along the lines of, ‘Hey, look, let’s just talk about this.’ It’s a normal thing, so let’s talk about it so you’re talking about it with other people.
“Let’s talk about all the treatment plans and your diagnosis and everything like that really, really helps the mentality behind everything.”
