Hampton baseball player prepares to return to the plate after battle with cancer, leg amputation

HAMPTON, Pa. — A Hampton baseball player is suiting up to play the game he loves after a years-long battle with cancer.

Aiden Hanna is making his return to the field with an attitude of showing everyone that they can overcome anything.

Like many baseball players, Aiden Hanna is deep in preseason workouts, but the work at the Hampton Community Center isn’t just about baseball. It’s about getting him back to the sport that he loves.

After two-plus years of hospital stays, surgeries and aggressive treatments for bone cancer, Hanna is embracing the new beginning.

It started when he gave doctors the green light to amputate his leg.

“Giving up my leg was honestly one of the easier things,” Hanna said. “I feel like it opens up a world of possibilities, a lot more stuff that people think I can’t overcome. I can just show them that I can.”

The amputation was the key to becoming cancer-free and the quickest road back to the sport that never left his heart.

“Why short myself a year of baseball if I have this new leg coming and I could try it? So that really built my confidence up. Then I reached out to Mike and he’s like let’s get running,” Hanna said.

Aiden works with physical therapist and family friend Mike Bacasa.

“The kid is always smiling. He is always positive. There is always a group of people around him,” said Bacasa.

Hanna is stepping up to the plate with relentless dedication and an unshakeable spirit.

“I don’t care if I start. I just want to be able to play senior night. Maybe two other games and say, ‘Hey, I did it.’” said Hanna.

Early in his diagnosis, Aiden and his family started Aiden’s Helping Hands, an organization that financially assists other families impacted by pediatric cancer.

The organization started with the family handing out gift cards and has now grown into something big enough to pay families’ mortgages and utility bills.

Click here to learn more about Aiden’s Helping Hands.

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