Each season, Team In Training honors a hero who has battled blood cancer to serve as a beacon of hope and inspiration to all of our participants. Our honored patients help remind participants why they train day after day: to find a cure for cancer. Just when the going gets tough, at the end of the long weekend run, going up that mountainous hill while cycling, getting through the final mile when walking a marathon, the stories of our honored patients and all those we train in honor and memory of is what gets them to the finish. This season, we are so privileged to have Zach Baccari as our honored patient, a brave young man who’s positivity and strength has inspired us all here at TNT.
Zach Baccari was 15 years old, going into his sophomore year at Hendricken High School, when he was diagnosed with Burkitts Lymphoma. This type of non-hodgkins lymphoma is rare and aggressive; doctors in Rhode Island say they normally only seem two cases per year. Zach was in the hospital for 112 consecutive days with many complications. Due to the Burkitts Lymphoma Zach had to have his spleen and part of his pancreas removed. Luckily, he was released from the hospital on December 23rd, 2011, just in time for Christmas! Zach was never afraid and had the attitude of "you can’t let it control you". After 12 long rounds of chemotherapy, the Baccari family is happy to report that Zach’s last day of treatment was on June 6, 2012! Zach is now back in school, enjoying being a kid again!
The Baccari family has been a part of Team In Training for nearly a year, showing incredible spirit and perseverance through the completion of the Cox Providence Rhode Races in honor of Zach last May. Zach’s mother and grandmother, Lisa and Peggy, went on to complete yet another TNT event in the same year at the Nike Women’s Half Marathon last October! Zach and his family embody the mission of LLS, and we are thrilled to be honoring him this season!
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| {Zack and his sister enjoying a day out!} |
The Baccari family has been a part of Team In Training for nearly a year, showing incredible spirit and perseverance through the completion of the Cox Providence Rhode Races in honor of Zach last May. Zach’s mother and grandmother, Lisa and Peggy, went on to complete yet another TNT event in the same year at the Nike Women’s Half Marathon last October! Zach and his family embody the mission of LLS, and we are thrilled to be honoring him this season!
See Zach's incredibly powerful speech here given at our summer season kick-off. Introduced by his nurse and TNT particpant Tammy Poission, Zach reminded us all that why we train: for a world without cancer.
Go Team!
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