2026 HOPE Week: Day 2

The Yankees honored Dunia Sibomana-Rodriguez and the organization Smile Rescue Fund for Kids, which brought Dunia to the United States and performed over a dozen surgeries on him to repair severe facial and limb trauma that was caused by a childhood chimpanzee attack in his original home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Now a graduating high school senior and star athlete, Dunia is heading off to the University of North Carolina on a wrestling scholarship this fall. At the event, Yankees players Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Ben Rice, David Bednar, Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Volpe and Assistant Pitching Coach Preston Claiborne surprised Sibomana-Rodriguez, his family and friends, and representatives of the Smile Rescue Fund for Kids with a going away / graduation party in the Delta SKY360° Suite at Yankee Stadium.