Hearing the word "cancer" is scary for anyone, especially when you're just 9 years old. Sammy Strawn can call himself a survivor, and one heck of a baseball player too.You don't have to be around Sammy for long to know he's anything but quiet on the field."My dad taught me when I was like maybe 3 or 4, so baseball's life to me," Sammy said. But last October, he wasn't feeling like his normal self. "We first found out after he had a prolonged headache at school and had to come home from school," his dad Joe said.That long headache turned out to be caused by a brain tumor. "It was a pilocytic astrocytoma," Joe said. But baseball stayed on Sammy's mind. So when his parents told him what was going on, Joe said Sammy had just two questions: "First one: 'Am I going to live?' The second one: 'Am I going to play baseball again?'" Joe and his wife Sarah Wemhoff-Strawn say they caught the tumor early on. "(It was) not genetic, it was just a formulation of bad cells," Sarah said. Between October and November, Sammy had two surgeries within weeks of each other. And just three days later, he was back to playing catch again."I didn't want to lie to him and say 'you will play baseball again,'" Joe said. "That was never a guarantee," Sarah chimed in. Joe said he "was hoping by April he would be playing baseball and even that, I wasn't sure it was going to happen."Sammy's impact inspired his parents so much that they started Sammy Strong, a foundation aiming to provide resources for families and everyone else involved in the life of a child facing what Sammy did. Meanwhile, Sammy hasn't missed a single game or practice since his surgery.He's grateful for his teammates."It's like they didn't even notice that I had cancer, and I was just a normal kid on the baseball team," Sammy said."I think grateful is the biggest understatement in the world," Sarah said.Joe and Sarah say it's unlikely that the tumor will come back. But Sammy gets a check-up every three months to make sure everything is alright. For more about the Sammy Strong foundation, go here.
Hearing the word "cancer" is scary for anyone, especially when you're just 9 years old. Sammy Strawn can call himself a survivor, and one heck of a baseball player too.
You don't have to be around Sammy for long to know he's anything but quiet on the field.
"My dad taught me when I was like maybe 3 or 4, so baseball's life to me," Sammy said.
But last October, he wasn't feeling like his normal self.
"We first found out after he had a prolonged headache at school and had to come home from school," his dad Joe said.
That long headache turned out to be caused by a brain tumor.
"It was a pilocytic astrocytoma," Joe said.
But baseball stayed on Sammy's mind. So when his parents told him what was going on, Joe said Sammy had just two questions: "First one: 'Am I going to live?' The second one: 'Am I going to play baseball again?'"
Joe and his wife Sarah Wemhoff-Strawn say they caught the tumor early on.
"(It was) not genetic, it was just a formulation of bad cells," Sarah said.
Between October and November, Sammy had two surgeries within weeks of each other. And just three days later, he was back to playing catch again.
"I didn't want to lie to him and say 'you will play baseball again,'" Joe said. "That was never a guarantee," Sarah chimed in.
Joe said he "was hoping by April he would be playing baseball and even that, I wasn't sure it was going to happen."
Sammy's impact inspired his parents so much that they started Sammy Strong, a foundation aiming to provide resources for families and everyone else involved in the life of a child facing what Sammy did.
Meanwhile, Sammy hasn't missed a single game or practice since his surgery.
He's grateful for his teammates.
"It's like they didn't even notice that I had cancer, and I was just a normal kid on the baseball team," Sammy said.
"I think grateful is the biggest understatement in the world," Sarah said.
Joe and Sarah say it's unlikely that the tumor will come back. But Sammy gets a check-up every three months to make sure everything is alright.
For more about the Sammy Strong foundation, go here.
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