Throwing out the first pitch on July 5th

On Thursday, July 5, 2012, I'm very excited to announce that I'll be throwing out the first pitch at the Braves-Cubs game at Turner Field.

What some of you might not know is the significance of this occasion for me. 25 years ago this month, I was given the honor of being a batboy by the CF Foundation (picture attached). I was thirteen years old and little did I know that was the age doctors predicted my life could very well end. In fact, on September 4th this year, I will have tripled that prediction. I owe a lot of this to donors like yourselves who have worked so hard to make my life and so many others' lives better. I also owe a lot to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for not only allowing me to be a batboy that June day in 1987 but also for never giving up in the fight against cystic fibrosis.

Today we have Kalydeco from Vertex that is helping CF patients and there are many more drugs in the pipeline. These types of breakthroughs were non-existent back in the eighties.

That June day in 1987, Dale Murphy (the person on the far left in my batboy picture) hit a big homerun to help the Braves win the game. In 2012, Dale Murphy hit another homerun by agreeing to write the foreword for "The Drive at 35." It's pretty neat how the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I wish Wendy could be here to see the progress that is being made to save lives for cystic fibrosis patients but judging by the beautiful weather we are blessed with year after year at Wish for Wendy, I know that she is watching us from above.

I hope that you'll be able to come out on July 5th to see me throw out the first pitch but even if not, if you haven't donated to Wish yet, please do so at http://www.cff.org/LWC/dsp_DonationPage.cfm?idEvent=20587&idUser=348812. Thanks again everyone!

To the day that CF stands for Cure Found.

Andy