Liam Hendriks.Photo:Michael Reaves/Getty
Michael Reaves/Getty
There’s plenty of things that helpedLiam Hendriks recover from cancer, but he says baseball was his biggest motivator.
The Chicago White Sox pitcher made his emotional return to the mound last month after he was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in January and underwent both immunotherapy and chemotherapy.
“I think baseball is the thing that helped me get back as quickly as I could,” Hendriks, 34, toldGQ Sportsthis week. “Having that goal, having that drive, having that target date, having something to do, having something to [work] toward—that helped in the recovery.”
In April, Hendriks announced he was in remission after four rounds of treatment and soon began working his way back to joining his teammates in Chicago.
“There’s always the fear: Did I rush back? Did I come back too soon?” the Australian-born pitcher toldGQ. “I don’t feel like I did. We’ll see.”
Liam Hendriks.Ron Vesely/Getty
Liam Hendriks.Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty
Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty
The pitcher toldGQhe would practice as much as he could between rounds of chemotherapy, playing catch and riding a Peloton bike to keep up his cardiovascular conditioning. He even began to show up at the White Sox training facilities, surprising his teammates and throwing bullpen sessions.
Hendriks met his goal and returned on May 29. Earlier this month, he notched his first win of the season on June 4 — National Cancer Survivors Day.His return did hit one hiccup this week when the White Sox put him on the 15-day injured list after he began feeling pain in his throwing elbow. The pitcher told ESPN, however, that he hopes to be back “as soon as I can” and return to his peak form.
In three of the last four seasons, Hendriks was named to the American League All-Star team and has been one of the game’s best relief pitchers. In five appearances since his return this season, Hendriks has one save and two wins.
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After his first game back, Liam’s wife Kristi Hendriks told reporters also she believes baseball played a vital role in his recovery.“When you are having all this poison pumped into your body, the last thing you feel is normal,” she said. “It was great for him too to have the camaraderie with his teammates. He got to, you guys know Liam, he’s a goofy, random man. And he’s weird. He felt like he was part of his people again. I think that if he didn’t have baseball, his recovery would have been very different.”
source: people.com
