Here’s an inspirational promotion: the Oklahoma City RedHawks (Clsss AAA; Pacific Coast League) is partnering with a local health-service sponsor on a “Home Run for Life” event on July 8, recognizing people in the local community who, with the help of their families, physicians and health-care professionals, have overcome a significant medical event in their life.
Selected Home Run for Life participants will get to take a home run “lap” around the bases between innings, symbolizing the end of a battle against adversity. This Friday’s event is the third in the series.
“It’s humbling for us to work with Integris Health in recognizing people in our community who have had to endure so much adversity in their lives,” RedHawks president/general manager Michael Byrnes said. “This promotion helps people see the hardships that some overcome to live a normal life.”
The week’s Home Run for Life promotion celebrates Sky Dilbeck, who battled a brain tumor while pregnant with her fourth child. Nine months after delivering twin girls, Sky and her mother planned a mother-daughter outing. While Sky’s mother was driving, Sky began experiencing a seizure. Sky’s mom, a registered nurse, immediately pulled over and dialed 911.
Sky chose to go to the emergency room at Integris Baptist Medical Center, and an MRI and biopsy confirmed that she was suffering from a brain tumor.
Sky began chemotherapy at the Integris Cancer Institute of Oklahoma and continued the treatment plan for the next two months. During this time, Sky was overjoyed at the news that she was pregnant with her fourth child. Chemotherapy treatments immediately stopped, and Sky discussed with her doctors the best treatment plan to protect her unborn baby.
Doctors recommended that Sky start radiation treatments, balancing both fighting for her life and caring for her growing family. Several months later, Sky gave birth to her son Jones.
Sky has been cancer-free since 2006 and credits her faith and family with helping get through this challenging time. She is now a pre-kindergarten teacher at Heritage Trails in Moore.
—-
Share your news with the baseball community. Send it to us at editors@augustpublications.com.
Subscribers to the weekly Ballpark Digest newsletter see features before they’re posted to the site. You can sign up for a free subscription at the Newsletter Signup Page.
Join Ballpark Digest on Facebook and on Twitter!