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Honoring a pediatric cancer "hero" at Hadlock

A 9 year-old boy from Lisbon falls will be a big shot Saturday evening when he runs the bases at Portland's Hadlock Field.

LISBON FALLS (NEWS CENTER Maine) –

A 9 year-old boy from Lisbon falls was a big shot Saturday evening when he ran the bases at Portland’s Hadlock Field.

R.J. Bonsaint was diagnosed with Lymphoblastic Leukemia in June 2016.

Luckily, he’s now in remission, only has 18 months left of treatment and was recognized at the July 14th Sea Dogs game as part of the Anthem Heroes at Hadlock.

“The first year or so was pretty tough on him,” said R.J.’s mother, Jessica. “He lost his hair, and with all of the new medications he had to take, everybody at Maine Children's has been very awesome and very comforting. A couple weeks ago they reached out to us and said they wanted to honor RJ at the Seadogs dogs game which is tonight and he was very excited to do so. This is his first baseball game."

R.J. is the third person in the program to be recognized this year and says support like this from his community, his family and friends is what is got him through difficult and painful chemotherapy treatments.

He also told NEWS CENTER Maine that running the bases would be like a weight “getting lifted off my shoulders” because he’s come so far with his treatment.

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