Hey batter batter swing! The Casey Cares Foundation partnered with the Baltimore Orioles to bring a special evening to Casey Cares child, Kalliope who is seven years old and diagnosed with pre b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Kalliope, or Kalli, attended Orioles batting practice with her family before throwing the game’s first pitch! Casey Cares Founder, Casey Baynes, was also at Camden Yards to cheer on Kalli!

Her mother, Kathleen, or Katie, says that her daughter, was “elated [to throw the first pitch], actually there really isn't a word that embodies how excited she is. She has already said that this is the highlight of her life! She loves the Orioles as do her sisters and she enjoys playing catch in the front yard with her dad. Kalli started playing softball in the spring!”

Kalli was diagnosed with leukemia in 2020.

Katie states, “When Kalli was four years old, she had a pretty routine kid injury that over the course of two months wasn’t healing like you would expect. Kalli had x-rays done and was seen by her doctor on two different occasions. It got to the point where the pain was so bad she was having difficulty walking and complaining of extreme leg pain and that’s when we decided to take her to the emergency room.”

“They did x-rays on her leg and thankfully the doctor that we had been working with over the course of two months saw something in the x-rays that warranted further attention, and requested Kalli to have specific bloodwork done,” the mother continues.

Katie says that “It was at that point that they told us that it was likely she had some type of cancer but they did not know exactly what and she needed to be transported to Johns Hopkins Children’s Center for further examination. After her bone marrow biopsy, it was determined that she had pre-b cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.”

Kalli’s diagnosis came during the very beginning unknown days of COVID-19.

“All of Kalli’s medical procedures and initial stages of diagnosis were done with just one parent present as the rules of COVID-19 made it so. This was very difficult for our family and Kalli’s sisters, whom are extremely close, and were unable to see her except via FaceTime during her initial inpatient treatment time,” she expresses.

“Due to all of the safety precautions that one normally takes while treating a pediatric cancer diagnosis we needed to be extra cautious with potential COVID-19 exposure. This caused our family to be very selective of the people we saw and the places we went. Casey Cares has offered our family so many wonderful experiences that Kalli missed out on while going through treatment and that we can enjoy together as a family,” Katie concludes.

Thanks to Casey Cares, Kalliope and her sisters, Tallula and Reilly, have had fun experiences like attending an Urban Pirates Party in the Inner Harbor and watching Riverdance at The Lyric.

Thank you to all supporters and donors of Casey Cares like the Baltimore Orioles who help lift the spirits of our critically ill children! These little moments give way to lasting memories and huge smiles for our kids and their families!