PHOENIX, Ariz. (WFRV) – Brewers Spring Training is something that Reece Walters and Lucas Connor will never forget.
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“I’ve met a lot of great players that I never thought I’d be able to meet; it was really cool and really fun,” Walters said.
Aurora Baycare Medical Hospital selected Reece Walters and Lucas Connor for an all-access trip to see the Brewers train in Arizona.
But getting here was not easy for either of the two. Connor has spent the last two years battling cancer, while Walters faced a life-threatening brain bleed that required emergency surgery.
“It was two years of his childhood, he couldn’t do the things he wanted to do,” Lucas’ mom, Amber, said. “There were times that he just wanted to be a normal kid, and that was a struggle for us as parents because we want that for him too.”
Walters says that staying optimistic has not always been easy.
“It’s been good, but I’ve been trying to stay positive; it’s been hard sometimes,” Walters said.
Now, as both boys near the end of their recovery, this trip helped kickstart a future of simply getting to enjoy being kids again.
Aurora BayCare Pediatrician Dr. Donald Beno nominated Connor for the trip.
“I saw we were getting to the end of his treatment, that he was getting ready to ring the bell, and that he would be healthy enough to go on that trip,” Dr. Beno said. “It was my pleasure to nominate him to go on that wonderful trip.”
The trip consisted of meeting Bernie at the airport and spending the night playing cornhole with the team. The boys spent the day with current players and Brewers’ alum Ryan Braun, standing with the team during the national anthem, even running drills with the team.
Aurora BayCare Emergency Medicine Physician Dr. Bob Zemple said the experience was more than baseball.
“It’s with great joy that I see that we can offer this to patients and their families to see how much we appreciate caring for them,” Dr. Zemple said.
For both Connor and Walters, it gave them a chance just to be kids.
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“It was very heartwarming to see them not have to worry about the things they’ve been worrying about,” Connor’s mom said. “It was great to see them happy and enjoy themselves as kids.”
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