Cancer-free and with a new prosthetic blade, Hampton senior gets back on the baseball field

By Bob Pompeani

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    PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — From a very young age, Hampton’s Aiden Hanna was all about baseball.

“I started in T-Ball at five years old and I’ve been playing ever since,” Aiden said. “I’ve played summer ball every year since I can remember.”

During one of those summer ball tournaments, he noticed something was wrong with his left leg while trying to make a play.

“I was running after it and it was an easy fly ball but I just couldn’t get there,” Aiden said. “I could get there all the time but I just couldn’t get there.”

“So after that tournament, when we came home, Aiden was just like ‘Oh my ankle is really hurting,'” Aiden’s mom Tracy said. “But then he was saying that he just couldn’t pick it up. It was almost like a nerve was affected.”

After initial X-rays were inconclusive, the family sought a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon.

“She came into the room and Aiden and I were just like ‘What’s wrong?’ and she said, ‘You might want to call your husband,'” Tracy said. “She said Aiden had osteocarcoma. Aiden said ‘Am I going to be okay?’ and I said, ‘Of course. We’re going to get through this and figure it out.'”

Aiden endured months of chemotherapy and then surgery. It paid off in the spring of 2023 when he was diagnosed cancer-free.

Unfortunately, just a few months after ringing that bell, he noticed a problem with his other leg. They found more cancer cells. Another round of chemo pushed that cancer away until a tumor was found back in the original spot on his left leg and the family was faced with a difficult decision.

“We sat down with him and he essentially decided that we had to amputate to save his life,” Tracy said.

“They left it all up to me,” Aiden said. “They didn’t want to make the decision for me then have me live out their decisions.”

Doctors amputated Aiden’s leg just below the knee last August. Most kids would have been understandably concerned with what life would be like as an amputee, but not Aiden. Just two months after surgery, he walked across Hampton’s football field at homecoming.

This past winter, he was fitted with a prosthetic blade, which allowed him to start working out again and it gave him an epiphany.

“Why cut myself short when I have one more season left on the baseball field?” Aiden said. “So I texted my coach on the treadmill and said ‘You’re going to see me out there, I’m going to come back this spring.'”

“Immediately, I almost started crying,” said Hampton baseball coach Kellen Wheeler. “It made me so happy that he was wanting to do that and I was hoping that would be the case.”

“These are all my best friends I’ve had since I was five so it’s so nice to be back out here playing,” Aiden said.

He played sparingly throughout the season but he got the start at first base on senior night. On his final at bat of his final game, Aiden did what he’s always done: rise up to a challenge. He roped a single up the middle on a 3-2 count, causing a wave of emotions on and off the field.

“I’m so proud of him for overcoming these obstacles and going out there to do what he loves,” Tracy said. “He’s proving to people that you can do hard things and overcome any obstacle. And he’s not doing fighting yet.”

“I’d just say don’t let anybody set your own standards,” Aiden said. “You set your own standards, don’t let anyone say you can’t do something because I’ve proved that you can do anything when you set your mind to it and get back to doing what you love. There’s nothing stopping you.”

As if that wasn’t moving enough, consider this: throughout his treatment, Aiden realized that he was more fortunate than many other kids at the hospital, so he created the Aiden’s Helping Hands foundation, which has already raised over $200,000 to help families pay off medical expenses and other bills. If you’d like to help Aiden in his quest to pay it forward, visit AidensHelpingHands.com.

One final note of good news: Aiden recently received his latest scans and he is now nine months cancer-free, which is the longest such period since his diagnosis three years ago.

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