Arizona Diamondbacks partnered with Make-A-Wish Arizona to grant the wish of one of their biggest little fans, Ayden Smith, a five-year-old boy recovering from Leukemia Tuesday.
Ayden asked to BE a Diamondbacks player, his mother, Amanda Hendricks said. So, Ayden was granted the wonderful opportunity to visit Chase Field and fulfill one of his biggest dreams and become a professional Arizona baseball player.
His mother and step-father, Jason Hendricks, say he is a year into his treatment for Leukemia and is currently in the maintenance stage, which means he gets treatment only once a month and can attend school again. Amanda told 12 News it was special for Ayden and the whole family.
"Sometimes it’s really hard to see him when he is down and when he’s not feeling well, so it’s really cool to see him happy and smiling and playing and just enjoying it," she said. "It means a lot to us and it really means a lot to him to get to have some fun for a day and not think about what he has to go through."
To make him feel just like a part of the team, they gave him his very own locker with gloves, baseballs, and a proper jersey that had “Ayden” printed on the back.
Excited with a wide and contagious smile on his face, Diamondback players showed him around the locker room and made him truly feel like a part of the team by putting his name at the top of the lineup card, among all the rest of the players.