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Recovering from bone cancer, teen meets idol
Dugan Smith to attend Game 4 of World Series
Updated: Thursday, 20 Oct 2011, 1:08 AM EDT
Published : Thursday, 20 Oct 2011, 12:04 AM EDT
FOSTORIA, Ohio (WUPW) - A Fostoria teen who recovered from a rare cancer surgery that reattached his leg backwards, is receiving some national attention this week.
Not only did he appear on Anderson, on Sunday Dugan Smith will travel Texas to attend Game Four of the 2011 World Series.
The 13-year-old never thought that one day he would meet his favorite baseball player, New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia. But he did, thanks to Anderson, a nationally syndicated show seen locally on FOX Toledo.
"To be on a talk show is pretty cool," Dugan said.
Dugan was diagnosed with cancer back in 2008. He had a tumor the size of a softball on his thigh bone. After months of chemotherapy, a rare procedure was performed by a doctor in Columbus that cut off a portion of his leg turning it 180 degrees. That procedure saved his life.
Dugan, who loves to play baseball, plays his favorite sport with a prosthetic leg.
After hearing about Dugan's story, Anderson Cooper called the Fostoria teen and asked him to be on his show.
"He's a really nice guy," Dugan said of Cooper.
"I want to be the first major league pitcher with a prosthetic leg," he added.
But his story gets better. On the show Anderson surprised Dugan with a signed autograph baseball from Sabathia, who also surprised the eighth grader on the show.
"I was just like, 'Oh my gosh!," Dugan recalled. "I couldn't even .. my head was about to explode. When he walked in he gave me a worn jersey that he wore in a game and signed it."
Dugan also received a signed autograph from fellow Yankee Derick Jeter and three tickets to World Series Game Four in Arlington, Texas, which will be shown this Sunday on FOX Toledo.
Dugan is now cancer free. After the Anderson show visit, he and Sabathia exchanged information, and he's expected to hang out with the Yankees pitcher in November in New York City.
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