Boy Gets Surprise Visit from Baseball Hero After Being Treated for Dog Bite

— -- A 10-year-old boy got the surprise of his life yesterday when his favorite baseball player paid him a visit in the hospital, after being treated for a dog bite.

"He thought he was just going back for a doctor's appointment," mom Charity Cortez of O'Fallon, Missouri said. "The kid has never been speechless in his life, until probably then. He was very shocked and overjoyed and I think very humbled that someone of that caliber would want to be with him."

Cortez, a mom of two, said it was on Jan. 2 when her son Ethan was bit by the family dog, resulting in him needing surgery.

"Our dog had bit him in the face during the night and so we had to take him in to get stitched up," Cortez said. "It's been kind of rough because we had to put our dog down. He [Ethan] felt like it was his fault. He jumped in bed with her and I don’t know if it startled her or what, with the way she reacted. He was a little freaked out and this was kind of his first time in the emergency room."

Prior to his procedure, Cortez said Ethan, a die-hard St. Louis Cardinal fan, began reacting to the pain medication administered by his doctors.

"The nurse, she was amazing," Cortez said. "We just loved her, but St. Louis and Chicago, we've got a little bit of a rivalry. She had said something like, 'Oh I'm a Cubs fan.' Then I saw him [Ethan] crying. I asked 'Are you OK' and he said, 'She's a Cubs fan, Mom!'"

Cortez said her husband began shooting a video of Ethan's emotional state, after he discovered his nurse did not share his love for the same baseball team.

Soon, the video was shared on Facebook and eventually reached Trevor Rosenthal, the closing pitcher for the Cardinals.

With the help of the St. Louis Children's Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, Rosenthal scheduled a meeting with Ethan, who was overjoyed to meet the hero from his favorite baseball team.

The sweet surprise was captured on video.

"We have amazing patients here at St. Louis Children's Hospital -- who surprise us with wit and wisdom every day," said Paul Suess, St. Louis Children's Hospital spokesperson. "After Ethan's parents posted the original video, neither the hospital nor the Cardinals could resist getting involved. We are grateful to the St. Louis Cardinals, and especially Trevor Rosenthal and his wife, Lindsay, who took the time to help turn something that started as a tough experience for a child, into something the young man will never forget."

Cortez said Rosenthal sat with Ethan and chatted about baseball, while giving him pointers on his pitching techniques.

"It was a great thing as his mom to be able to see that, especially after all the heartache over the past week, losing our pet," Cortez said. "It was pretty awesome."