When Tim Wakefield began signing autographs in Chicago at one in every of his many Jimmy Fund occasions for teenagers with most cancers, a child named Robbie — who misplaced a leg to the illness — shot up and began hopping down the grandstand stairs.
“We all noticed, and we had been all slightly bit in horror, like, ‘No, stop!’” Lisa Scherber, director of Patient and Family Services at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, remembered Monday. “But while we’re staring, Tim jumped up and actually ran up the steps, put Robbie on his again and carried him down. That’s who he was.
“He carried all of our kids on his back,” Scherber continued. “He carried all of us on his back.”
The legendary Red Sox knuckleballer died on the age of 57 Sunday after a non-public battle with mind most cancers. As a broadcaster, father and way more, his legacy extends nicely past the baseball subject.
One piece of that legacy was formed via many years working with the Boston-based Jimmy Fund, a corporation that raises cash for most cancers analysis and therapy on the Dana-Farber Institute.
Even in his final day, Scherber stated, Wakefield was planning on strolling the final mile and a half of the annual Jimmy Fund Walk to Fenway Park.
“That was when he was going to take this fight, and he was going to make it public on his own terms,” Scherber stated, referring to a teammate’s unauthorized outing of his battle days in the past. “He felt very, very safe here. He felt at home here, because of his over 20 years being a part of the Jimmy Fund. I think being a patient was just another chapter for him, that he was ready to tackle.”
Wakefield started working with the fund throughout his first 12 months with the Red Sox in 1995, Scherber stated. At their first teen occasion with the staff that 12 months, she famous, he was the primary participant out.
“He opened up his heart to these teens,” the director stated. “And when they saw Tim Wakefield, the knuckleballer, coming out to see them, it was just — it was beautiful. Because we can do everything for these kids, but we can’t do that.”
Wakefield served because the Red Sox’s first Jimmy Fund captain. But even with out the title, Scherber stated, he continued to be a captain for the fund yearly.
He formed the position, she stated, exhibiting Red Sox gamers and different athletes easy methods to actually become involved within the mission.
“It’s not easy, meeting 50 teenagers with cancer,” stated Scherber. “And he always made it easy. He made it — they just saw Tim, you know, they didn’t see the Red Sox player.”
He introduced “so much joy and so much magic” to the institute, Scherber stated, and left an “immeasurable” influence.
“We’re gonna be better because of him,” Scherber stated. “And we’re grateful. We’re so grateful that he was part of our team and he was our friend.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”