Patient #1 draws inspiration from local MLB player

Cape May native and former Villanova two-sport star Matt Szczur was called up to the Chicago Cubs this week.  His story has been told before – the ESPN E:60 episode 'Risking It All' was done nearly two years ago – but if you haven't heard it, it's worth a few minutes of your time.  After leading 'Nova to the 2009 NCAA I-AA football championship, the following spring's baseball season was interrupted when a bone marrow donor program matched his marrow with a baby girl in Ukraine suffering from leukemia and desperately needing a life-saving transplant.   He stopped playing baseball, took drugs to boost his stem cell production, and gave little Anastasia his much-needed healthy bone marrow.  He recovered, returned to baseball, and was drafted by Chicago several weeks later.

I happened to see the wire story of his promotion, and as a big Wildcats fan - that's a 2009 Villanova NCAA Football national champions hat I wore during the toughest part of my first clinical trial – I followed their championship run and Szczur's career with interest.  As a former cancer patient, the selflessness of a future professional athlete to save a little girl's life made Szczur my favorite non-Philly athlete, possibly ever. That he's made it to the big leagues is really

Inspiring. At the end of the E:60 clip, Szczur gave humble advice for so many who face cancer, including me: "You can only do so much in baseball, you can only hit the ball so far, throw the ball so hard.  To be able to make a difference not only in your life, in someone else's life, and their family, is huge.  I feel like that is my greatest accomplishment so far.

In a career filled with notable athletic accomplishments, that is a great sentiment, and I wish I had shared this earlier. One day, when my kids are older and get a chance to digest what has happened to me over the last few years, they will inevitably come across the many messages of positive feedback I've gotten. Messages about being an inspiration and courageous and a heroic role model for other patients.  I hope they read this post, and click on the link and watch Matt Szczur's story. I hope they see what a true hero really is. Good luck Matt, hope you're up with the Cubbies for good, and thanks for inspiring me these last few years.

T.J. Sharpe shares his fight against Stage 4 Melanoma in the Patient #1 blog. Read more »