Fish Hawk teen back on the field after bone marrow transplant helps him beat cancer: ‘Like a dream come true’
TAMPA, Fla. - A Fish Hawk teen who lives for baseball is back on the field after a battle with cancer sidelined him.
Last summer, 13-year-old Colton King was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and he spent months in the hospital undergoing treatment.
Doctors said Colton King needed a bone marrow transplant and his 17-year-old sister Kaylee ended up being the perfect match.
Colton King is now cancer-free and back to doing what he loves most playing baseball.
Colton King in the hospital decked out in Rays gear.
On Tuesday night, he threw out the first pitch at the Rays game.
"It was a completely emotional moment of like, wow, I can't believe he's here," Colton's mom Stacy King said.
Cancer survivor Colton King threw out the first pitch at Tuesday night's Rays game.
For Colton's sisters, Addisyn and Kaylee, seeing him back on the baseball field happy and healthy is the moment they've been waiting for.
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"It was really exciting. I knew he would do good because he's always really good at baseball. He is kind of a perfectionist," Addisyn King said.
Colton King talks with a Rays player before tossing out the first pitch.
As Stacy King explains, Colton lives for the game.
"It was just special. It's kind of like a dream come true. He loves baseball. He plays travel baseball," Stacy King shared.
She noticed something wasn’t right last year when Colton King was at batting practice.
"He would just take a swing and then need a break. Something in my mom's gut was like okay this is really wrong," Stacy King shared.
At urgent care, his hemoglobin was dangerously low. Days later, on July 29, everything changed when they learned he had leukemia and would need to find a donor for a bone marrow transplant. His sister ended up being the perfect match.
Colton and his sister Kaylee.
"I was so relieved that I was because that means I will be able to save my brother’s life," Kaylee King said.
The siblings underwent surgery in January. Afterward, Colton King spent weeks in the hospital recovering and undergoing treatments.
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In February, he was declared cancer-free.
"I'm extremely happy that I could help him because if I couldn't and it was some random person, it was just kind of left up to chance if they would do it and all the different scenarios, so I'm very happy that it was up to me and I chose to do it," Kaylee King said.
Colton and his sister Kaylee in the hospital.
Doctors say a sibling match by far offers the best results.
"We are definitely the closest and strongest we've ever been. It's also been really stressful. My two girls didn't have a mom or a brother home for 3 months and that really took a toll on everybody, but I think we all appreciate just being home," Stacy King said.
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It was a special for the whole family to watch Colton King take the field and do what he loves most – play baseball.
Colton King playing baseball.
"He has a chance to have some really special things to remember instead of just the really hard things," Stacy King said.
Colton King has two more check-ups to make sure his cells are still cancer-free, but the last two check-ups went well and show no evidence of disease.