Hernan Salvartierra Carpio, Age 12
NEW YORK
The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore
Cancer
Two weeks after his 10th birthday, Hernan Salvartierra Carpio was doing what he loved best, playing baseball in his hometown of the Bronx in New York when another player knocked into him. That night he noticed a bump on his leg and thought it was just a baseball injury. It wasn’t.
When the bump on his leg was still there a week later, Hernan’s mother took him to their pediatrician. He sent him immediately to The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, where Hernan was diagnosed with lymphoma that spread to his lymph nodes and bones. Chemotherapy, ER visits and spinal taps replaced baseball games in the weeks and months that followed.
Despite feeling sick and in pain, Hernan has handled cancer treatment with a sense of humor and a positive outlook. Now 12, he has returned to school, earning a 93 average and first honors. He loves to help his mom cook, especially favorites like tuna salad, seafood and octopus. And Hernan hasn’t given up on his dream of playing pro baseball someday, asking, “Mom, do you think they would draft me out of high school?”
