Champions on page 28). The event includes fun activities for patients and families, an Olympic-style relay where they pass the symbolic “Torch of Life,” and a remembrance ceremony to honor kids who’ve lost their lives to cancer. “It’s always an emotional and profound day,” says Greupner. “It’s really meaningful to know that our players and the rest of us who go out there can bring a smile to a child’s face and make them feel important and make them feel celebrated for the battle that they’re going through, and hopefully encourage them to keep fighting. The days that we spend at the Celebration of Champions are some of my favorite memories.” Patients of the Peckham Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders are also invited each year to be special guests at Padres spring training in Peoria, Arizona. The experience gives around 15 teenage (16 in 2024) cancer patients the
a long, hard road for many of them in cancer treatment,” says Greupner. Jennings recalls the first spring training experience fondly. Late Padres owner Peter Seidler, who died in November, shared with the teens insights from his own cancer battle. “I remember how he talked to those kids, and it was such an uplifting conversation. Being a cancer survivor, he could really get down to what they were feeling and what they were struggling with. It was so compassionate and so thoughtful,” he says. “The Padres have bent over backwards. They do such amazing things for us.” No matter what the activity, the players get as much out of it as the patients. Padres star slugger Manny Machado is known for—amongst other things—chatting up patients much to their delight and sticking around to sign autographs. “They are honored to be able to give back and support the mission of the
IT’S A SPECIAL EXPERIENCE FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO TRAVEL ON THEIR OWN AND GET A BIT OF A BREAK—BOTH MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY—FROM HAVING TO DEAL WITH WHAT’S BEEN A LONG, HARD ROAD FOR MANY OF THEM IN CANCER TREATMENT.”
chance to travel, often for the first time without parents, be treated like VIPs, make new friends, tour the facilities and enjoy outings with Padres players and on-field access. The young Padres fans are also honorarily “signed” to the team. “It’s a special experience for them to be able to travel on their own and get a bit of a break—both mentally and physically—from having to deal with what’s been
Hospital, and in particular the kids who are patients at the Hospital,” says Greupner. “We get some of our highest rates of participation from players and coaches with any event at Rady’s Children’s because of the overwhelming care and concern and passion that our players and coaches have for the kids who are going through tough times and health battles and their family members who are also going through it every step of the way with their children.”
Rady Children’s patient ambassadors pose for a pic with Padres mascot, the “Swinging Friar”
SPRING 2024 HEALTHY KIDS MAGAZINE 7
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