Emotional Freddie Freeman gets hug from Bryce Harper in return to Dodgers as ailing son recovers
Freddie Freeman made a heartfelt return to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup on Monday night, receiving a warm hug from Phillies star Bryce Harper after missing eight games to care for his 3-year-old son, Maximus, who is now out of danger following a serious medical diagnosis.
“I’m back,” Freeman announced before the game. “That means good things are happening at the Freeman home.”
Freeman’s first at-bat was met with a standing ovation, with even the Phillies joining in from their dugout. He acknowledged the applause by stepping out of the batter’s box, removing his helmet, and touching his right hand to his heart. Clearly moved, he took several deep breaths before facing Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola, ultimately striking out to end the first inning.
The crowd chanted “Freddie! Freddie!” before Freeman singled in the third inning, where Harper greeted him with a comforting embrace.
Maximus Freeman was initially misdiagnosed but was later found to have Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder where the body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system, causing nerve damage and muscle weakness.
“Seeing one of your kids on a ventilator fighting, it was hard,” Freeman shared, his voice breaking. “That’s the heartbreaking thing. No one deserves to go through something like this. I know you parents understand that. You’d switch in a second to take that pain, that suffering away from your kid in a heartbeat. When you feel hopeless, like Chelsea and I did, that’s hard.”
Speaking to the media, Freeman occasionally cried and wiped his eyes and nose with a towel.
“If you talked to me six days ago, I would never have been able to speak,” he said. “The reason I’m able to get through this is because of the huge wins we’ve been getting the last few days with him. It’s been a miraculous recovery, that’s what they say to us.”
Maximus first became ill during the All-Star break in July when the family traveled to Texas to support Freeman. Four days later, Maximus couldn’t sit up or walk and eventually stopped eating and drinking.
Freeman described how his son lost sensation from his feet to his shoulders and had difficulty breathing.
Maximus was rushed to a hospital near their Orange County home and placed on a ventilator. He received two rounds of intravenous immunoglobulin to help restore his immune system.
“Then it was a waiting game,” Freeman explained.
Freeman and his wife Chelsea spent hours at their son’s bedside in the pediatric intensive care unit, watching for any signs of improvement.
“He started to shoulder shrug, which was a massive sign for us,” Freeman said. “It means we were closer to potentially getting the ventilator out.”
Doctors were optimistic as Maximus’ paralysis receded from the top to the bottom of his body.
“We ticked off the little wins we could get during this time,” said Freeman, whose mother died of melanoma when he was 10.
Freeman vividly recalled the moment the ventilator was removed. “At 10:46, I’ll never forget it,” he said. “Within six minutes he was sitting on me. I can’t tell you how good that felt, to be
