Rizzo, a survivor, lends hope to cancer patients

PARKLAND, Fla. — Most kids have long lists of toys they want for the holidays. The gift Anthony Rizzo gives is hope.

Mike Fiorello’s son Adam was hopeful after talking to the Cubs’ first baseman. Adam was diagnosed in December 2013 with a rare cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma, and needed treatment at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Rizzo and Adam went to the same high school in Parkland, Fla., and Rizzo, a cancer survivor himself, called Adam when he was undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

“Anthony called my son — I’ll never forget when he got the call,” Mike Fiorello said. “[Adam] was taking chemo and he was just miserable. He was just getting his body destroyed by this poison. He didn’t answer the call, but he got this message from Anthony and he didn’t return the call because he didn’t know what to say. The Rizzo family found out about Adam, and they helped us through a really tough time.”

The Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation helped pay for the travel expenses so Adam could get his treatments in New York. The foundation paid for a room at the Miami hospital when Adam was transferred there for care.

Last year at Rizzo’s fourth annual “Walk-Off for Cancer,” held in his hometown of Parkland, “Team Adam,” which was walking on behalf of Adam Fiorello, was the top fundraising group. Adam couldn’t do the 5-kilometer walk himself; he was too weak.

“The Rizzo family did a lot of good things for us,” Mike Fiorello said. “They had a real impact on me and my family.”

Rizzo, 27, saw Adam before he left Florida to start Spring Training this year at an event sponsored by the city of Parkland.

“I knew he wasn’t doing well,” Rizzo said. “He looked good, but I could …

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