Make-a-Wish child and cancer survivor will run bases at Saturday's Mariners game
SEATTLE - 12-year-old Kairav Sapru rounded the bases on the field at T-Mobile Park Thursday in preparation for Saturday’s Mariners game in Seattle.
Sapru will be running the bases as part of the Make-a-Wish program. On Thursday, he practiced on the field with his parents cheering him on.
"It was so much fun, and I’m so happy to be part of this historic moment where the Mariners get to go to the playoffs for the first time," said Sapru. "I think we are going to win. We are going to win the whole thing, hopefully."
The Evergreen Middle School student says he was in treatment in St. Louis for Burkitt Lymphoma for a good part of 2021. He says his family had gone to visit an uncle there when he fell ill and needed treatment.
"I was in St. Louis because we were visiting my uncle there. We were on vacation, and I was like, I wasn’t feeling great. So, we went to St. Louis, and we went to the hospital there, and I found out I had leukemia," said Sapru.
Since his father says Sapru couldn’t fly at that time, he completed much of that treatment in St. Louis before returning home to western Washington in late 2021.
His family says he's now cancer-free.
"It was pretty cool, I think. I’ve never been on a field or anything like this," he said. "I’m just really excited to be here and get to run all the bases."
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"We are so excited to be here. Make-a-Wish has been part, or been working with, the Mariners for over 20 years," said Melissa Arias, CEO and President of Make-a-Wish Alaska and Washington.
She says they chose Sapru to run the bases due, in part, to his love of sports.
"We are super excited for him. He seems like a pro. We got to watch him warm up and wave to the crowd and I think he’s going to do an awesome job. I hope and I know the crowd is going to love him. In this postseason game, and look forward to watching him on Saturday," Arias said.
"I‘m so happy that they gave me this opportunity because it’s so cool I’m going to see the whole game and going to be on television. So, I’m so grateful for them," Sapru said.