First pitch: the first of many goals for Wharton’s Turer
Nearly ten months to the day Brody Turer’s life was changed by a cancer diagnosis, he was in uniform with his Wildcats teammates and delivered the game’s ceremonial first pitch. His father, Scott, records the moment behind the mound.
By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor
NEW TAMPA – Sitting behind the gate next to the home dugout at Wharton High junior Brody Turer rocked side-to-side, peering onto the field watching his team play its season opener. During a mid-inning break, Wildcats teammate Connor Shore got close enough for him to catch his attention.
“Hey man,” Brody said, “I want to throw.”
Shore instantly lit up, grabbed his glove and he and Turer made their way to the bullpen down the left field line.
Turer takes a momentary break from playing catch in the bullpen to watch as the Wildcats start a comeback rally against Lennard during Wharton’s home opener.
Back-and-forth the duo exchanged tosses, only broken by the few seconds when both watched as the crowd lit up as the Wildcats mounted a mid-game rally. Normalcy – it’s all he has craved for the last 10 months – and he’s getting more and more of it each day.
During Mother’s Day weekend, Brody felt drained, tired and nauseous. His parents thought he had mono, and took him to the doctor on Monday to be cautions. A day later, May 14, 2024, the Turer’s lives forever changed.
Brody was diagnosed with two forms of leukemia (mixed phenotype acute leukemia with myeloid and B-cell phenotypes), a rare combination that affects less than 3% of leukemia patients.
The diagnosis was definitely a shock, Brody said, knowing his life moving forward was dramatically changed.
“The word cancer means it’s killing,” he said, “killing everything in your body, so I knew everything was going to be different from then on.”
His mother, Danielle, said her and husband Scott were devastated, but Brody was stoic.
“Of course, I’m crying trying to handle everything, and it took me a couple and I realized that (Brody) wasn’t crying,” Danielle said. “He was processing. So, I just decided it wasn’t fair to just sit here and cry, because he’s now worried about me.
“Right there, I said, if he can do this, I can do this. The composure? That’s all him. I’ve learned from him! We’ve let him take the lead, and we followed suit.”
Medicines and chemotherapy, brought another huge adjustment for the highly-active, athletic teenager: isolation.
“Not being able to be with my friends or be at school or go to baseball was pretty hard. So, that was a huge adjustment,” he said. “It was a huge adjustment that took a while. All of the medicines weren’t easy, but being away from everybody didn’t help.”
Turer said he and his family tried to keep his diagnosis private, worried it would make people treat him differently, but as his absence from the school and his activities extended, the word got out.
“In the beginning, I didn’t want anyone to know,” he said. “My family and I tried to keep it a secret for as long as possible. Initially, you don’t want people to treat you differently.
“But with time, I learned it wasn’t really sympathy. People were just trying to show how much they care. Everyone has been so great, people have done so much to try and support me while I go through this.”
In the hospital, Turer was allowed essentially no visitors to avoid compounding his diagnosis with infection or other illnesses. His girlfriend, friends and teammates were in constant contact and checking in.
“Everyone reaching out was what kept my spirits high. Obviously, I wasn’t allowed to have a lot of people around,” he said. “But once we knew what it was, my team found out. Everyone reached out and was very supportive. I couldn’t ask for a better group – a better family for myself.”
You can’t throw an opening pitch without a baseball! Brody Turer calls for a pearl from the home plate umpire for his pregame first pitch.
The diagnosis wasn’t Brody’s alone, his whole family faced a challenge. In the early stages of his diagnosis, older brother Jake (a standout at Wharton who hit .335 for his career with 54 RBI and 22 doubles) moved into campus housing and is playing his freshman season at the University of Tampa. Danielle became Brody’s constant companion and caregiver (meaning she also had to self-isolate to avoid catching any illness), while Scott worked, maintained the household, arranged three meals a day for his son and wife (a BIG help to avoid hospital food, according to Danielle) and commuted to see his son on a daily basis.
“My wife stayed with him in the hospital, never saw daylight for nine months,” Scott said. “She was there for all the conversations, and there in the silences, too.”
“… She has always called (Brody) the ‘old soul,’ but when we knew he was different was when he leaned over and told her, ‘I’m okay with this as long as you, Dad and Jake don’t have to go through this.’”
Brody spent months in the care of doctors at St. Joe’s Children’s Hospital, where he was one of the older patients, often awake long after the children’s ward went quiet. Danielle said her son found ways to entertain himself.
“Once all the younger kids would go to sleep, he’d go out and pretend to be a ghost to try and scare the night nurses, or dress up as the cookie monster to make them laugh,” Danielle said. “He just went out and had some fun, trying to keep them on their toes, even as bad as he was feeling.”
Brody also received support through his treatment from around the world, getting messages from celebrities and professional athletes, including a video message from Jake Paul the day of his fight against Mike Tyson, a call from Ken Griffey junior, he met Tampa Bay Buccaneers star wide receiver Mike Evans, and was recognized by the Bucs and Tampa Bay Lightning.
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After months of chemotherapy treatment, lengthy hospital stays, multiple surgeries, an exposure to black mold, Brody was at last matched with an anonymous bone marrow donor and had replacement therapy at St. Petersburg’s All Children’s Hospital.
“I wish I knew who (the donor) was,” he said, “but someone gave me the best gift possible. It means the world to me, and I probably wouldn’t be here without it. Someone being so selfless has given me so much.”
After months in a hospital room, multiple rounds of chemo and 10 months of separation from the field, Wharton junior Brody Turer takes in the moment of being back on the field in uniform.
The decision to face his diagnosis and treatment with a winner’s attitude seemed the only way Brody ever thought to approach it.
“I feel like for anyone going through any sort of fight for their life,” Brody said, “having a positive attitude will always serve them best.”
That attitude is no surprise to his Wharton baseball teammates, who have rallied around Brody, writing messages on their gloves or the bill of their hats, tagging team social media posts #BStrong and #BrodyStrong.
“I met Brody last year and he was undiagnosed at the time – but he was just his normal regular self,” first-year Wharton head coach Anthony Markle said. “God gives his toughest battles to those he knows can handle them, and Brody is the example of that.
“He took his diagnosis, and as soon as he found out, he made goals. He said I’m going to be back, I’m going to be ready after treatments and surgeries, I’m going to fight to get back. And he’s right there. We saw it tonight.”
On that night (Tuesday, Feb 11), Brody put on his varsity uniform took the field pregame and delivered the ceremonial first pitch. The moment with his Wildcats teammates and Lennard’s team standing outside the lines, parents and fans, and the entire practicing Wildcats lacrosse team (which came over to stand just outside the fence), showed the importance of the moment to many in the community who care about Brody.
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- As Wharton baseball announcer Carlos Rosaly begins his prepared introduction for Brody, the lacrosse team stops practice on the football field and comes to the fence to support their classmate.
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- The Wildcats 2025 boys lacrosse program show their support for Brody Turer.
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For Markle, Brody’s experience and the way he has attacked his recovery, is a foundational lesson.
“I think the biggest inspiration to us as a team is that these guys saw everything get taken away from him,” Markle said. “… It was tough for these guys to see. But the way he has handled it, the way he has fought, he is a light. Every day he’s able to show up he brings positivity during a reality of some very serious things in his life.
“He means so much to this team and inspires us by just being Brody Turer.”
Wharton head coach hugs Brody Turer after his first pitch prior to the home opener for the Wildcats.
And as for those goals?
Now in remission with just some maintenance, out-patient chemotherapy, Brody has eyes on rejoining the Wildcats on the mound against live hitters. Tuesday’s first pitch just further strengthened his resolve to hit his next goal.
“At first, it was just about trying to make it another 24 hours, but now I don’t feel like I need to feel like that,” Brody said. “Now the goal is to be back on the field with my teammates. Tonight, reminded me of that even more.”
