When five-year-old Sam Heintz was in the ICU with failing kidneys, his family’s biggest fear wasn’t just survival, it was whether their little baseball dreamer would ever step into the batter’s box again.
The Michigan boy was diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening disease called atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, which clots blood in the kidneys and can lead to organ failure. His only hope? A transplant.
Three years later, at age eight, the perfect pitch life could throw him finally arrived, doctors at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital found an organ donor. But as a left-handed batter, Sam’s family had one unusual request.
“They said that’s never been a request before,” his mom, Alicia, told WZZM-13. Could the kidney be placed on the left side of his body instead of the usual right? That way, when Sam faced a pitcher, the organ wouldn’t be directly exposed to a foul ball or a wild fastball.
“It makes sense, right?” said Cristina Brini, a physician assistant at DeVos Hospital. “If you’re left-handed and you have the bat up, you don’t want to be exposed to where all of these balls are coming at you at 100 miles per hour.”
“They were happy to make it happen,” Alicia said. “It was super cool,” added Sam. “I’m a lefty, and when I’m up to bat it’s pretty vulnerable if I turn and foul one off, or get hit there.”
Today, Sam is back on the baseball field, swinging big, with an even bigger story behind him. In a twist of fate, the wife of his coach was one of his nurses when he was a child, bringing his journey full circle.
Although the early innings of Sam’s life didn’t go as planned, his medical team and a new kidney have helped him make a valiant comeback. And you can bet baseball will continue to be a huge part of it.
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