Blake Savage wasn’t that nervous when he took to the mound and threw out the ceremonial first-pitch at the Rogers Centre in Toronto last week.
“Not a lot of people get to do that. It was pretty fun,” said Blake. “It kind of went by so fast. I remember throwing the first pitch, taking a picture, but it went so fast.”
The 13-year-old from Moncton, N.B., and his parents were the guests of Make-A-Wish Canada in honour of World Wish Day on April 29.
Blake threw out the first pitch ahead of the game between the Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox in Toronto, something the Jays superfan has always wanted to do.
“It was so emotional. I was happy to see him smile and just having the best day of his life. It was amazing,” said his mother Tabatha Savage.
Blake lives with a rare heart condition and suffered a cardiac arrest two years ago.
“I can’t play hockey anymore. I can’t do too much physical activity,” said Blake.
In 2022, he lost consciousness while playing at school.
He underwent multiple tests at the hospital, but doctors couldn’t determine what was wrong with him.
The same thing happened a year later, and then in 2024 the cardiac arrest happened while he was playing hockey.
“He went into a full cardiac arrest,” said Tabatha. “Thank God one of the bystanders was a doctor.”
Tabatha said spectators in the crowd brought an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) to the ice and started CPR, which saved his life.
He was transported to the IWK Health Centre in Halifax shortly afterwards and was quickly diagnosed with Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (CPVT), a rare genetic heart condition that causes abnormal heart rhythms.
“He has it for life,” said his father Shane MacGregor. “He’s protected. He’s allowed to do a lot of things. He can’t play hockey anymore, of course, because that’s what triggered the cardiac arrest, but aside from that he’s cleared to do basically anything he did before that didn’t affect him.
“He’ll have a fairly normal life.”
Blake goes to IWK for follow ups and stress tests.
“He’s on medication, but other than that, he’s doing great,” said Tabatha.
Shane said a doctor at the IWK told them there’s only 200 people in Canada diagnosed with the disorder.
“Adrenaline is what will spike or cause you to go into cardiac arrest,” said Shane.
But playing baseball, his true passion, is OK for the pitcher and second baseman.
Not only did he get to throw out the first pitch, he also got to meet two of his favourite players: George Springer and Trey Yesavage.
Blake said Springer, who caught his pitch, was much taller than he expected.
“He was pretty nice,” said Blake.
Shane said the Make-A-Wish Foundation went above and beyond.
“The Blue Jays organization too. They were so engaging,” said Shane. “We had free reign. We travelled all through the Rogers Centre.”
The family got a tour of the ballpark, lunch at a nearby restaurant and were guests of honour to see Toronto defeat Boston.
“They kept it all a surprise, on purpose, of course,” said Shane. “He didn’t even know what players he was meeting until he got on the field.”
Blake’s heart condition has inspired his family to advocate for CPR and AED training in schools.
There was one AED installed at Maplehurst Middle School where Blake attends Grade 7, but now there’s three, one on each floor.
“If it was not for the AED, he would not be here today,” said Tabetha.
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