(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – The Chicago Cubs will have some young visitors at Spring Training next week, thanks to the surprise of a lifetime.
Usually we hear the names Kyle Hendricks, Dansby Swanson and Seiya Suzuki announced at Wrigley Field. But now, we're hearing names like Ian Slager, Jonathan Slota and Bria Schmidt.
They are three Advocate Children's Hospital patients making their way to Arizona next week for Chicago Cubs spring training.
Their reactions?
"Pretty happy and also really shocked,” Ian said.
"I'm ready to go. It's gonna be fun,” Jonathan said.
Both avid baseball fans and players, 11-year-old Ian was born with Shone's Complex. Fifteen-year-old Jonathon was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in August but rang the bell after finishing treatment.
His mother, Mary Slota, said her son's future looks even brighter now.
"It's awesome because after everything he's been through this past six months this is amazing, so cool for him, something to look forward to,” she said.
Bria Schmidt was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in May. She went through months of intense, five-hour-long chemotherapy treatments and rang the bell in November.
Her mother, Lainie Schmidt, said the coming trip is exactly what Bria, a self-declared Cubs fanatic, needed.
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