White Sox reliever Liam Hendriks accepted the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at Wednesday night’s ESPYs. The 34-year-old Australian was declared cancer-free in late April and returned to the mound a month later.
Hendriks told the audience that he pitched much of the 2022 season with non-Hodgkin lymphoma before being diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease.
“That was an eye-opener. I didn’t feel too many symptoms but I had some lumps around. It just shows you the power of the mind. When you don’t think anything’s wrong and you believe that you can do anything, you can do anything,” Hendriks said.
“I was throwing 100 miles per hour while going through Stage 4 lymphoma and then coming back after doing eight rounds of chemotherapy and four rounds of immunotherapy and was able to get out there and throw 96 miles per hour. That isn’t physically who I am. That’s all this, that’s all mental.”
He told USA TODAY Sports prior to the ESPYS he was “very honored” to be given the award and hopes his award raises awareness for cancer research. During his speech he echoed the famous words of Jim Valvano, who gave his powerful speech 30 years ago.
“Don’t give up, don’t ever give up,” Hendriks said.
What a speech, Liam Hendriks 🥹
— ESPN (@espn) July 13, 2023
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