High School Softball Player Battling Cancer Hits First Home Run
HUMBOLDT, Iowa (CBS Loal) — Ashlyn Clark has stage four Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, but between chemo treatments she still suits up to play on her high school softball team in Iowa.
On Monday, Clark returned for Senior Night and belted her first career homer. Clark, who is a senior, went 3-for-3 with four RBIs to help lead the Humboldt High School Wildcats to a 10-0 win over Clear Lake. Humboldt also clinched the conference crown.
“I have no idea what the next batter did, since I had so many tears in my eyes,” coach Doug Van Pelt told CBS affiliate KCCI. “Just a special, special moment for everyone involved.”
Clark was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on May 8. She immediately began Five rounds of 21-day chemotherapy treatments at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Cancer, however, was not going to stop the four-sport high school athlete from competing.
“Every game, when they announce her name, I tear up,” Kristi Clark, Ashlyn’s mother, told the Des Moines Register. “When she’s in the hospital, she’s like, ‘Mom, I want to get back to my happy place. I need to get back.'”
Ashlyn spent Tuesday, her 18th birthday, traveling back to the Mayo Clinic for more chemo.
She finished her third round of five chemo treatments. If she feels well enough, she plans to play again for Humboldt in the playoffs.