In May of 2015 Adriana Aviles, 4 year old daughter of MLB infielder Mike Aviles, was diagnosed with leukemia. She received treatment at Cleveland Clinic, while Aviles played for  the Cleveland Indians. The organization was very understanding and gave Aviles as much time as he needed to be with his daughter and this family in these very difficult of times.

Aviles was a player many teams were looking at during the 2015 season as a possible trade candidate, but with the news of his daughter being diagnosed, the Cleveland Indians kept Aviles until the end of the season, so he was close to his family during these hard times.

According to ESPN.com, Aviles missed 6 games spanning from May 16 to May 22. He missed these games to attend to his daughter’s illness and recovery.

Leukemia is a cancer of blood forming tissues, including bone marrow. Patients with slow growing types of leukemia will not notice many symptoms, while rapid growing types of leukemia will show symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss, and easy bleeding or bruising. The cancer is often fatal for young children.

In the summer of 2015 Adriana continued her treatment in Cleveland, receiving chemotherapy. At the end of the season, Aviles took his daughter and his family out to Utah, where the rest of their family lives, and Adriana received treatment at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

In December of 2015 she received her bone marrow transplant.

When Aviles went to Detroit Tigers camp at the start of the 2016 season, he was all smiles as he was happy to announce that his daughter Adriana was cancer free. Aviles represented Puerto Rico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and is a free agent headed into the 2017 MLB season.