FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Jake Fraley and his family had been waiting years for Thursday. It was a day of celebration. A day of gratitude. A day to rejoice.
Fraley’s 7-year-old daughter, Avery, rang the bell at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, marking the end of her treatment program and her triumph in a two-year battle with cancer. Fraley took part in the bell-ringing ceremony alongside his wife, Angelica, son, Jayce, and Avery, with the whole family clad in pink for the occasion.
“It was amazing. The hospital did an amazing job, and it's something that we were looking forward to two years and change ago, finally getting to that point,” Fraley said Saturday before starting in right field for the Rays against the Twins at the Lee Health Sports Complex. “It was a long time coming, but it was amazing.”
Avery was diagnosed in October 2023 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the bone marrow and blood. She was only 5 years old. She began treatment and was in full remission by the end of January 2024. But since she was battling a form of blood cancer, Fraley said, she had to finish the treatment protocol she started, including chemotherapy.
The Fraleys found peace and purpose in their Christian faith after Avery’s diagnosis, with Jake and Angelica coming to the conclusion that they would choose to feel “incredibly blessed” for the time they had with Avery. Fraley considers it another form of blessing that Avery doesn’t remember some of the more difficult parts of her treatment, even though she’s old enough to understand most of what she has gone through.
Someday, Fraley said, he hopes they’ll look back and see the last two-plus years as “a little blip in her life” -- a happy, healthy life.
“I'm just extremely rejoiceful that she doesn't have to go through any more treatment and chemo and shots and appointments that involve chemo,” Fraley said. “Right now, it's just a finger prick, check her blood and make sure she's good and go forward.”
While the Fraleys found comfort in their faith, Fraley admitted the 2024 season with the Reds was challenging for him. That was during the most intense portion of Avery’s chemotherapy. With so much on his mind at home, Fraley acknowledged, he felt like he was “one foot in, one foot out.”
He’d wake up at 6 a.m., take Avery to the hospital, watch her undergo chemo then go straight to the field at 1 p.m. to get ready for that night’s game. That was his entire season, except for when Avery went home to Miami to see the doctor overseeing her treatment.
With that challenging chapter closed, Fraley expects this season will be easier as he settles into a role as the regular right fielder for the Rays team that drafted him back in 2016.
“I think I'd be sitting here lying if I said I don't feel like a weight's off my shoulders. But at the same time, like, from a mental side, nothing's really changed,” Fraley said. “I've walked, as well as my wife and as well as my kids, through this entire thing with the same mindset, and it's that I have a hope and freedom in Christ.
“And it doesn't matter what situation that I find myself in, let alone anybody else that's walking through some sort of extreme darkness. My joy and peace comes from Him. It doesn't come from a circumstantial thing in my life.”
The Fraleys were obviously emotional during Thursday’s celebration. Angelica posted a video on Instagram in which she can be seen wiping away tears as the family, all holding hands, walks toward the bell. Hospital staff, including Avery’s doctor and nurses -- “big parts of our family now,” Fraley said -- sang, cheered and waved pom-poms. The Fraleys were surrounded by local family and friends, plus a bunch of others from out of town who called in via FaceTime.
But Fraley said he wasn’t struck by the “uncontrollable emotions” many people might expect.
“Obviously you had moments where you had tears coming out, but at the same time, I feel like we had such trust in the Lord through every process of going through this,” Fraley said. “So for us, it felt like getting to that moment, it was no different than when we were walking through it. … And the fact we had such an incredible blessing, and His grace was shown in so many ways to us to get to that point, to ring that bell, it was just kind of like -- man, it was just rejoicing.”
As for Avery? She wanted to swim with her friends, so the celebration continued at home with a pool party.
“She enjoyed the presents that she got from people,” Fraley said, smiling. “She's got a pretty big present coming from me and her mom here soon, too. She has an idea of that, so she's excited. And she's just kind of just like any other kid. She just enjoyed being around her friends afterward.”