
Somewhere, two doves nuzzle each other. An angel earns its wings. A cynical blogger wipes away ocular moisture. And Batkid nods with an approving smile.
After signing his three-year, $26 million deal, which presumably made Carlos Ruiz so happy, Chooch made his way to the Washington Township Fire Department to surprise a six-year-old cancer patient.
Aiden Riebel, who’s been battling leukemia for nearly his entire life, was being named an honorary fireman in front of friends and family. Shortly after taking the official oath, Aiden and his 10-year-old brother, Max, were given signed Carlos Ruiz jerseys. It was all pretty cool… and then Chooch himself showed up:
With the Saint Florian medal dangling around his neck, Aiden and his 10-year-old brother, Max, were then each given a Carlos Ruiz jersey and a baseball autographed by the Phillies catcher. Moments later, Ruiz himself — to the surprise of nearly everyone in the auditorium — emerged from a door at the back of the stage and proceeded to engage Aiden in a 45-second, teary-eyed embrace.
“Sometimes things happen for some reason, but this is special that God put us all together right here,” said an emotional Ruiz. “Thanks to all the firefighters that came out and everybody else that is here and thank you for letting me be part of this.”
In the absence of video (someone has got to have that, right?), we’ll just go ahead and assume that 45-second embrace from Chooch was the same hug he gave Roy Halladay after his Postseason no-hitter against the Reds.
Carlos Ruiz gives great hug.
How it happened:
In the days leading up to the ceremony, Aiden’s aunt, Katie Stier, was the only member of the entire family aware that Ruiz would be attending Thursday’s event. She notified the rest of the family at approximately noon on the day of the event, but she kept one last surprise guest completely hidden from Aiden.
Along with meeting his favorite baseball player, Aiden on Thursday met his favorite sports mascot as the Phillie Phanatic stormed onto the stage, instantly bringing an smile to the boy’s face.
“Everyone just wanted to do something and be part of this,” Stier said. “Between the fire department setting this all up and the Phillies being so eager to help out, it all just came together to be a very special evening for Aiden.”
For Aiden, the festivities provided a brief distraction from his seemingly never-ending battle.
As he attempts to beat the disease for a third time, his routine now involves at least two hospital trips every week to receive transfusions and other treatments. Though Aiden is aware of what is going on to the extent that he knows he is sick and needs the continuous treatment to keep living, his mother said he never lets that break his spirit.
“He just burrows through it all, like, ‘OK, Mom, what’s our next trip? What are we doing today?'” Ludwig said. “So every day is a new beginning for him, and we cherish every one we get with him.”
The Phillies may not be very good at social media, but they’re really good at this stuff.
UPDATE: Phillies.com has video, after the jump.
H/T to Chooch’s tweeting agent and guest on Crossing Streams, Marc Kligman (@MLBAgent), via MLB.com
18 Responses
My allergies must be acting up…. sniff sniff…
CHOOCH!
Hat tip to Chooch.
Best wishes to Aiden and his family.
This is why that 2008 team will forever be loved in this town. They actually seem like they care! Especially guys like chooch who are a little under the star status. Great story. I think something is in my eye.
I was gonna say Chooch wandered in cause he saw the Ped in pediatrician on the door but that’s innapropriate, God bless that little guy and his family. They are incredibly strong people.
I hope he took some of that kids Adderall
We all know only reason chooch went to the hospital is to steal some adderall. Great coverup by chooch using that kid as a decoy
Yeah he needs to take his Adderall even though he officially has his own prescription now….retard.
Except the event wasn’t at a hospital, it was at the Washington Township Fire Department, you flipping retard.
Looks like Isaac did not read the article. Fucking moron who calls himself a solider
Surprised Kacie McDonnell wasn’t there to take selfies with chooch and aiden and post them all over twitter/instagram/facebook/myspace. She probably has a Myspace page still, right?
But seriously, I’m all teary eyed over here. A chooch hug is probably the best hug in all of baseball.
Not sure the firehouse was big enough to house Kacie’s horse teeth.
Fuckin A Chooch!
Love Chooch!
Hope that little guy gets better.
Great article, Kyle. Got sucked in by the first 3 lines. I was at the event and had to keep the camera up to my face so nobody could see my tears. Don’t know anything about baseball and Carlos Ruiz, but he appeared extremely compassionate and genuine last night.
Onions everywhere…
the fucking kid is dying. The phillies could have at least someone that the kid could understand and speaks full understandable english
You’re a dumb asshole.
After a timeless period of rather repellent dreams I awoke as a voice whispered in my ear. Where the tiny and invisible communicator was located.
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