{"id":288519,"date":"2026-07-06T21:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/288519\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T21:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:10:07","slug":"dyker-heights-teen-ends-16-month-long-battle-with-cancer-surprised-by-brooklyn-cyclones-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/288519\/","title":{"rendered":"Dyker Heights teen ends 16-month long battle with cancer, surprised by Brooklyn Cyclones \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fourteen-year-old Julian Baquero of Brooklyn marked the end of a long battle with cancer by ringing the ceremonial bell at Maimonides Children\u2019s Hospital on June 30, marking the end of his chemotherapy treatment.<\/p>\n

The Dyker Heights teen was diagnosed with high-risk pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in February 2024, when he was just 12 years old.\n<\/p>\n

Baquero, a baseball lover and longtime New York Mets fan, was met with surprises from the Mets\u2019 High-A affiliate team, the Brooklyn Cyclones, after completing his treatment. As part of the \u201cringing the bell\u201d ceremony, he received a customized jersey and baseball cap from the team. He and his family were also giftedVIP tickets to an upcoming game, where Baquero has been invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.<\/p>\n

In a video<\/a> shared by staff at Maimonides Children\u2019s Hospital, Baquero expressed his gratitude for the team of nurses and staff surrounding him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m speechless,\u201d Baquero said. \u201cThank you very much for the gift, for the whole thing. Thank you so much for the things that you do for me\u2026 I feel like a person that is part of a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A lifelong Mets fan, Julian Baquero was surprised by the Brooklyn Cyclones with a custom jersey, VIP tickets and an invitation to throw out the ceremonial first pitch after completing chemotherapy.Screenshot via video courtesy of Maimonides, by Erin Grace Clarke<\/p>\n

Maimonides Medical Center and the Brooklyn Cyclones entered into a 10-year partnership in May 2021, renaming the stadium formerly known as MCU Park to Maimonides Park in Coney Island, where the Cyclones play their home games. Through the partnership, the hospital regularly hosts benefits and community experiences in collaboration with the minor league team.<\/p>\n

In addition to the baseball team\u2019s gifts, Baquero received a Sceptre 4K gaming monitor at the ceremony.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Baquero also brought gifts of his own, giving potted flowers to his entire medical team as a thank-you.\n<\/p>\n

ALL is an aggressive blood cancer, accounting for more than 25% of childhood cancers. The disease has become increasingly treatable in recent years, posing a survival rate of 93% among children since 2010, according to PubMed<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even throughout intense treatment \u2014 intrathecal chemotherapy requiring him to experience spinal taps, often without anesthesia \u2014 Baquero remained strong and showed remarkable determination. In recognition of his bravery, Baquero was given the certificate of courage by a nurse.<\/p>\n

\"\"Julian Baquero thanked the doctors and nurses who cared for him throughout his leukemia treatment by presenting each member of his medical team with flowers.Screenshot via video courtesy of Maimonides, by Erin Grace Clarke<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout your journey you faced each day with courage, resilience and hope,\u201d the certificate read. \u201cYour smile, your spirit and your perseverance have inspired everyone around you. Today we celebrate this important milestone and honor the amazing hero you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are strong, you are brave, you are extraordinary,\u201d the certificate finishes. \u201cKeep being your amazing self.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fourteen-year-old Julian Baquero of Brooklyn marked the end of a long battle with cancer by ringing the ceremonial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,6594,100,99,13483,31651,110288,2045,2953,9679,9,24,12,370,63,319],"class_list":["post-288519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-cyclones","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-cancer","tag-cyclones","tag-d","tag-dyker-heights","tag-health","tag-maimonides","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}