The Phillies’ home opener is swiftly approaching, and one extremely resilient and energetic child from Delaware will send out the ceremonial first pitch.
Zeke, 4, is still wondering whether to throw a curve ball or a heater on Opening Day.
“We’ll see how it goes.” If he makes an excellent pitch, it will be fantastic. If not, the experience is one in a lifetime that few people get to have,” Zeke’s father, Jonathan Clark, said.
“We’ll see how it goes.” If he makes an excellent pitch, it will be fantastic. If not, the experience is one in a lifetime that few people get to have,” Zeke’s father, Jonathan Clark, said.
Zeke can throw effectively and run rapidly, especially given that he is currently adjusting to life with a prosthetic lower right leg following a horrific occurrence.
Last summer, he was riding on a tractor with his father when he abruptly jumped off.
Zeke ended up under the mower, his leg stuck in the blades.
“I had him on the front porch and put him down, ripped off my belt and wrapped it up as tight as I could and made a tourniquet,” he said.
The family lives in Lewes, Delaware, just down the street from a firehouse, so first responders arrived immediately.
They have since spent a significant amount of time in northern Lewes delaware at Nemours for many operations, working with their excellent laboratory, receiving various prosthesis, and everything else involved in this healing process, which will continue until he is completely grown.
“He has recovered extremely well. “His fighting spirit has really helped him excel in his rehabilitation and physical therapy,” said Dr. Jeanne Franzone, an orthopaedic surgeon at Nemours. “That’s really part of the multidisciplinary prosthesis care is meeting each child at the psychosocial level, helping them cope with their injury and helping them cope with the changes to life as they know it.”
