Ryan Westmoreland, 8 years later

LogansDad

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
29,049
Alamogordo
I don't know that I will ever be able to not get sad when I think about this kid's story, but man what an amazing individual to have gone through what he did, being on the verge of on top of the world, to being as low as he got, and still ending up seemingly a truly amazing human being. I have a metric ton of respect for this kid, and hope that his story keeps getting told so that future generations can see him as a role model for what it means to be a quality person.
 

Jed Zeppelin

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 23, 2008
51,289
There's an alternate universe where he's busy cementing his status as a New England sports legend, smack in the middle of his prime at 28, having already won a ring in '13 (fairly reasonably progression for his pedigree sees him finish 2010 in Salem, 2011 in Portland, 2012 in Pawtucket with a cup of coffee) and working on more. Such a shame.
 

keninten

New Member
Nov 24, 2005
588
Tennessee
I always compared him to a young Hanley as a ball player. There`s alot of "what if`s" about if he had been able to play. Would the Sox have drafted JBJ and Benintendi? Not even sure about Panda and Hanley FA signings.
 

OnWisc

Microcosmic
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2006
6,844
Chicago, IL
There's an alternate universe where he's busy cementing his status as a New England sports legend, smack in the middle of his prime at 28, having already won a ring in '13 (fairly reasonably progression for his pedigree sees him finish 2010 in Salem, 2011 in Portland, 2012 in Pawtucket with a cup of coffee) and working on more. Such a shame.
Yup. There are obviously no sure things in A ball (or even above), but no artistic license needs to be taken when discussing Westmoreland's potential in an attempt to make the tale more poignant. This kid was on everyone's radar when this went down. I remember the day it happened. Fucking "cavernous malformation."
 

Earthbound64

Member
SoSH Member
Thank you very much for posting and sharing this.

I knew Westmoreland had a few surgeries, but I didn't realize (as per the article) that it's up to 16.
Also the article mentioned the existence of the Angioma Alliance - again, thank you very much for sharing this and bringing more attention.
 

LogansDad

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
29,049
Alamogordo
Hey, that's the school I dropped out of to join the military!

Seriously, though, that's awesome news. I am really glad to see that he is still living a productive and (hopefully) happy life.