Ian Larmore at Camden Yards
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - With this feature story in May, we first introduced you to Virginia Beach teenager Ian Larmore.
The 15 year-old pediatric cancer survivor was unable to complete his freshman season on the Tallwood High School baseball team. He suffered effects from the radiation and other procedures that beat his cancer and saved his life in 2006.
Jose Altuve, Ian Larmore (Courtesy: Twitter / @Astros, via Joseph Noyes)
May 8th, at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, Larmore underwent a complex, nine-hour procedure to repair/reconstruct his ureter - the duct through which urine travels from the kidney to the bladder. His lone kidney (one of his 30+ surgeries in 2006 was to remove his left kidney) was not draining, so Ian was sidelined from baseball until his issue is resolved.
The procedure did not go as planned, and that was not Ian's final extended stay in a hospital. But as his health struggles enter extra innings, his favorite sport and his favorite player prove to be like a well broken-in baseball glove: reliable, comfortable and able to help handle anything thrown at him.
As for his favorite player? It's Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, the reigning American League MVP. Ian admires Altuve because they not only share a position - but also a similar stature. Altuve, one of the best hitters on the planet, is listed at 5' 6". Ian, his growth hampered by that bout with cancer, only recently surpassed the 5-foot mark.
