White Sox Pitcher Liam Hendricks Rings Bell After Final Chemo Treatment In Cancer Battle
Liam Hendricks has never rung a bell so hard his entire life.
The White Sox closer was teary-eyed as he sounded the 'Victory Bell,' after completing his final round of chemotherapy and successfully kicking cancer's ass.
The video quickly made its away across social media as baseball fans and cancer survivors were ecstatic at the good news.
HENDRICKS IS A THREE-TIME AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR
On Jan. 9, Hendricks announced the biggest battle of his life.
He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and stepped away from baseball to undergo chemotherapy.
Just four months later, the hard work and perseverance turned into the biggest victory of them all with Hendricks now being cancer-free.
"You never think you will be the one who hears 'you have cancer,' but there I was... in shock and fear not knowing what comes next," the 34-year-old pitcher wrote on his Instagram.
He detailed the struggle of waiting every 28 days for "another round of chemotherapy," as well as getting "closer to the PET scan that would dictate how many more rounds there would be."
Fortunately for Hendricks, there are no more.
Liam Hendricks announced that he is cancer-free and could be pitching again for the team soon. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
HENDRICKS BEGAN CHEMO IN JANUARY
He went on to thank both his wife and family, as well as the White Sox fans. "Your support kept me going. You kept me in the right frame of mind to beat this. Your encouragement made a bigger difference than you will ever know. Thank you from the bottom of my heart," Hendricks continued.
Hendricks next step? Returning to the big leagues.
The White Sox never placed Hendricks on the 60-day IL. That means the 3x All-Star could return to the team as soon as June!
Talk about having all the confidence in the world.
There isn't any way that Hendricks is going to be intimidated facing a Mike Trout or Aaron Judge up at the plate. The guy has seen it all; been through the toughest of times that the average person hopefully never can relate to, and no doubt he's going to use that as motivation to continue playing the sport that he loves.
Congratulations to Liam Hendricks and may his victory be an inspiration for others that are dealing with a disease.