11-year-old boy bravely fighting cancer throws first pitch at Fenway Park

WBZ

By Juli McDonald

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    BOSTON (WBZ) — The Boston Red Sox celebrated an 11-year-old boy who is bravely fighting cancer. Max Acuto has gone from isolation in the ICU, to roaring applause filling Fenway Park.

“There were so many times we were stuck in the house or the hospital because his counts were low, and we couldn’t be surrounded by people. I’m just so happy to be here and have him have this experience,” said Courtney Acuto, of her son.

Max Acuto, throwing the first pitch Tuesday night, felt like a dream come true for the Princeton family living a nightmare. Their 9-year-old was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2023.

Now 11, he’s been so brave; a source of inspiration for the WPI baseball team, who have become his supporters and friends thanks to Team Impact. “I play a lot of baseball. I’ve been practicing a lot. It was really cool. Being on that field and how many people there were,” Max said.

Two years of treatment Cheering Max on the mound is a moment of joy for this family after they have endured so much. But the true celebration comes this December when the sixth grader completes two years of grueling treatment.

“Two out of three weeks he’s getting chemotherapy. With the procedures he has to get, oral chemo at home, going in every Wednesday for treatment in clinic,” said his dad Bryan Acuto.

“I remember them telling us it was going to be two full years of chemo. I was like how do we even get there? He is so resilient; So easy going, always has a smile. Honestly he got us through our hardest days,” Courtney added.

After showing such quiet courage through the hard times, these good times… never seemed so good.

“It’s hard to imagine at the beginning of treatment we’d be here, and getting his strength back. Being able to watch that – the strength and perseverance he’s shown has been really wonderful. The strength Max possesses I didn’t know existed,” Bryan said.

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