Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran honors late Lunenburg girl with bracelet and home runs
A family from Lunenburg thanked Red Sox player Jarren Duran for wearing a bracelet with their daughter Haddie's name and for hitting home runs that they saw as signs after her death from brain cancer.
The Boucher family of Lunenburg lost their daughter Hadley Boucher in May after a battle with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a rare brain cancer. While she was still fighting the disease, she met Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, who photographed with her, signed a baseball and took a green bracelet inscribed with "Hope for Haddie." Duran has kept the bracelet on his wrist, using it to raise awareness for the illness.
At a recent Fenway game, he hit an inside-the-park home run, which the family interpreted as a symbolic tribute to Hadley. The following week, Alyssa Boucher, her father Derek and sisters Olivia and Peyton visited Fenway to thank Duran personally. During the game, Duran homered again, prompting an emotional response from the family, who felt it was another reassuring sign from their daughter.
Why it matters
It shows how sports figures can provide comfort and raise awareness for rare diseases through personal gestures.
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