This was originally posted in a thread that was started by Mark Robert. I was asked by a fellow poster to place this in the general thread.
All,
Some of you may or may not know about the passing of the gentleman that started this thread about his son's Tommy John surgery, "redsox8191." His real name is Mark Robert and he resided in Nashua NH. I also live in NH and although never met Mark in person, we were introduced through this website in the Northeast forum.
Mark was aware that my son had played on a summer team that helped him get a D1 scholarship. He so much wanted for his rehabbing son Mike to have the same fate. I helped put Mark and his son in touch with the program director and Mike was picked for their U17 team.
We would continue to swap emails and update each other on our son's progress. My son is in his Senior year of High School, and Mike is in his Junior year.
The irony of all ironies is that I had intended to reach out to Mark last Monday. My son heard the dreaded pop and needs Tommy John surgery. I wanted to learn from his experience and was unaware until today that he did a great job of documenting it here.
When I logged into the Northeast forum to contact Mark, somebody had just posted his obituary...Mark died on April 30th after a very brief battle with cancer.
If one thing was clear about Mark it was his dedication and love for his son and the game of baseball. That is something I think all of us on this site can relate to.
My son is going to have his surgery done by the same surgeon that did Mark's boy's on May 31st. Thanks to Mark's documentation, he's given me a local blueprint to follow. I truly hope that Mike Robert fulfills his Dad's dream as I trust Mike is watching his progress from a higher view.
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com.../mark-a.-robert.html
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