Nine-year- old Ethyn Yates has traveled twice to Dana-Farber from his native Australia in the past three years, and both times the Boston Red Sox have made the nearly 11,000-mile trip less scary.
Yates, who had a stem cell transplant at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center in late 2013 for the genetic disorder adrenoleukodystrophy, was at the Jimmy Fund Clinic Jan. 15 for a one-year checkup. What he and his dad Jason didn’t know is that nearly a dozen young Red Sox players would be visiting the clinic that afternoon as part of the team’s annual Rookie Development Program.
“What a day; we had a great checkup, and now this,” said Jason Yates as his son and Coyle posed for photos. “Cricket and soccer are our main sports at home, but Ethyn has started playing baseball, which makes this a lot more special.”
The Rookie Development Program is designed to introduce new and young Red Sox players (including minor leaguers) to different experiences they’ll encounter with the organization. One of these is the team’s unique relationship with Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund, which dates back to the 1950s when
Sox legend Ted Williams and his teammates made the short trip from Fenway to DFCI.
“Kids and their parents sometimes have to be here all day, so we try to make it as fun for them as possible,” Jimmy Fund Clinic Adolescent Specialist Jen Noonan told the players at the end of their Jan. 15 visit. “Having you come in here truly makes a world of difference to these patients.”
Noonan told the players to “look for us at spring training,” when a contingent of teenage clinic patients and chaperones will head down to Florida to see the Red Sox play a pre-season game.
This blog post was originally published on the Jimmy Fund Blog.