childhood cancer awareness month hereos
Diego Ponce: A Fighter on and off the Field
Diego Ponce was living a full and thriving life as he approached the end of his junior year in high school. Balancing school, college classes, and community involvement, Diego was the kind of student and young man who always had something going—ASB, National Honor Society, volunteering, and baseball.
Baseball wasn’t just a hobby—it was his passion, his escape, and his dream. He had just returned from a tournament in Arizona and was playing in a summer league while also helping coach his younger brother’s team. Diego had plans for the future, hoping one day to be a broadcaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers—a dream rooted in years of dedication to the sport he loved most.
Then came an unexpected turn.
Despite showing no symptoms—no fatigue, no pain, no slowing down—a lump in Diego’s neck caught his mother’s attention in February. A trip to the ER resulted in initial testing and medications, but no immediate answers. By May, a biopsy was finally scheduled, and three weeks later came the call that changed everything: Diego had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Everything after that moved fast. He was admitted to the hospital. Treatments began. And life, in so many ways, paused.
The hardest part for Diego has been stepping away from the field—the sudden halt to sports, to running bases and practicing for hours, the sudden stillness in a life that had always been in motion. His younger brother has also felt the weight of this shift, balancing frustration with a deep desire to protect and comfort his big brother.
For Diego’s parents, seeing their son sick, tired, and not his usual vibrant self has been one of the toughest experiences of their lives. They’ve tried to stay strong—for Diego, for his brother, for each other—but it’s been overwhelming, like living in a dream you wish you could wake up from.
And yet, through it all, Diego has shown incredible resilience.
His optimism, strength, and determination never waver. He has continued to inspire everyone around him with his spirit. Messages, cards, care packages, and prayers have poured in from friends, teammates, coaches, and his baseball community. Every note, every act of kindness lifts him up.
Diego may have stepped off the field temporarily, but he’s still in the fight—and he’s fighting like a champion.
