"An escape from reality" - Jake Fraley welcomes having son at ball park a healthy distraction amid daughter's health struggles
Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jake Fraley's daughter, Avery, was diagnosed with leukemia last summer. Fraley shared in January that their daughter has gone into remission. Amid this health scare, the Reds player enjoys seeing his son Jayce at the ballpark.
Jeremy Rauch shared an update about Fraley's family on his show. Rauch informed fans that his daughter Avery is in full remission, and her recovery has been inspiring. He also mentioned that when Jake Fraley sees his son, Jayce, at the ballpark cheering him on, it's a healthy distraction for him.
"There's a lot of kids that are out there in the stands right now that are wishing that they could go through and experience what he's experiencing. So it's such a blessing to be able to provide that for him, to have that experience. And even more so it's been huge for him with everything that we've been going through this year as a family," Fraley said.
He continued:
"To be able to kind of have this when we're at home, to be able to have this kind of escape from all this stuff. The same way I get it, right? To be able to have like kind of an escape from reality that he's getting to have as well. So that's been a huge part for him."
Jake Fraley talks about hardship amid daughter Avery battling cancer
It wasn't easy when Jake Fraley and his wife Angelica found out about the heartbreaking diagnosis of Avery last summer.
In April, during an interaction with Delaware Online, the outfielder opened up about the difficulties they were going through as a family during tough times.
"When you take a step back and realize the severity of what my daughter is going through, it doesn’t make sense. It’s difficult, but it’s no different than anything else. Everybody is going through some sort of extreme darkness. It’s just different for everybody for what that looks like. For me and my family, it’s my daughter battling cancer," Fraley said.
He continued:
"So I don’t find myself in any special category. … It’s just a matter of life. We live in a broken world. It’s unfortunate. It’s just part of the stuff that’s in this world."
A warm update in January about their daughter going into remission was encouraging. The Fraley family hopes for a swift recovery for her.