Summary:
- Freddie Freeman’s return to the Los Angeles Dodgers was warmly welcomed at the Dodgers Stadium.
- The player, who was absent for nine days because of his son’s illness, received a standing ovation from the crowd.
- The Dodgers won with a 5-3 score against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Freddie Freeman is back on the team. After a nine-day absence, the LA Dodgers player first joined the interview room at the Dodger Stadium where he gave a gut-wrenching statement about his family’s experience with his three-year-old son’s recent medical scare.
Next, he went on the field where more emotions kicked in as he received a standing ovation from the baseball crowd.
At the news conference, Freeman wore a blue t-shirt that read #MaxStrong across his chest.
The hashtag was a powerful and emotional reference to his recovering three-year-old son Max who recently went through a serious health scare.
It only took the player a few words into his first sentence in his 30-minute interview to get teary.
It’s a good thing I’m here, because it means things are trending better, Chelsea and I, it’s been a long week. No one should have to go through this, especially a 3-year-old. I don’t know how many times Chelsea and I said we wish we could switch.
Over the interview, Freeman went into detail about his three-year-old’s timeline, explaining his wife had informed him about Max’s situation worsening two weeks ago while the Dodgers were hosting the Giants, which forced him to run out of the clubhouse minutes after the last out was recorded.
Then, the following day, he was pulled out of the game in the ninth inning as manager Dave Roberts told him his son was taken to the hospital, where they first got the transient synovitis diagnosis.
Despite Max taking the proper medication for the respective illness, things didn’t improve for him.
Then, last Friday, Freeman was informed that it was not transient synovitis but a case of Guillain-Barré.
His son was taken to the emergency room and Freeman had to take the next flight home out of Houston, where he and the Dodgers had arrived.
Within just four days, the paralysis caused by the illness reached Max’s shoulders, “affecting his diaphragm and breathing” which is why he needed to be “completely ventilated”.
Thankfully, just a few days after he was ventilated, Max showed signs of a recovery. His breathing and feeding tubes were removed on Wednesday and on Friday he was discharged from the hospital.
Before the interview, on Sunday, the Freemans took to their Instagram to share that Max had returned home and was doing well in his recovery.
Freeman added there was no set timetable for his son’s complete healing process, as it is something that varies from patient to patient.
Nonetheless, the excruciatingly long week for the Freemans ended with good news as they were told their son would make a full recovery.
Once he got back on the field, Freeman was hugged by Phillies star Bryce Harper and received a standing ovation in his first at-bat with the Phillies joining in.
An emotional Freeman stepped out of the batter’s box, took off his helmet, and waved to the crowd, touching his heart with his right hand.
It means a lot that the Phillies were respectful of that situation
Max was eager to watch his father play against the Phillies, a game that the Dodgers won by 5-3. Will Freeman’s dodgers return help them in the season ahead, get all the best odds with a selection of US sportsbooks.
About The Author
