Yankees surprise 7-year-old superfan waiting for heart transplant

We have right now a very heartwarming story for you. You're going to love this. Go ahead, take a look at this video here. This is Little Walker. He is seven years old. He and his family, they live in our area. As you can see right there, a huge Yankees fan. He is currently living at Boston Children's Hospital, and he has been there since April. His family, they are from our area. In fact, his dad works with us here at Fox 5 News, and he is a... a sales manager here with Fox 5. The whole family picked up the family. They moved to Boston last April because little Walker is waiting for a heart transplant. He has a congenital heart defect. Well, he is a massive Yankees fan. And when they were playing up in Boston, he got their attention. They came to visit him at the hospital and they are just as much. A fan of his as he is of theirs. Well, you know, Cam Schlittler won the Cy Young Award this week. And so this is absolutely adorable. Walker posted a video congratulating him. And then the New York Yankees shared that. It's on Instagram. So take a look at this. Congrats, Cal. I'm winning the Cy Young Award. You're awesome. Thanks for being my friend. Go Yankees! Oh, I mean, he's going to make me cry, man. Seriously. He's a special kid, really. I mean... It's great to have a buddy like him just being able to support me and you know it's fun to go in there and check in and see him and you know he's a strong kid and he's got a great family so again it's amazing to have you know someone support like that and Walker just keep fighting. Brought tears to my eyes when I saw this video. Well, joining us right now, we are so very lucky. We have seven-year-old Walker Farrington and his dad, Brian, joining us from inside his hospital room there at Boston Children's Hospital. And as you can see, I mean, I've already told everybody, guys, about what a huge fan, Walker, you are of the Yankees, that you're probably their number one fan, but you can also see from all the jerseys. By the way, did the players give you those jerseys, or are those jerseys that you guys bought? Oh my gosh that's amazing. So tell me this we just played that video that you had posted and that the Yankees posted where you're congratulating Cam Schlittler. And he got really emotional watching that video. And he called you his buddy. He's like, I feel really blessed to have a buddy like you, Walker. What did you think when he reposted that video? It was cool. It was really cool. It's been amazing because he'll talk about some of these New York Yankee players on a first-name basis. You know, if a nurse comes in, he'll say, oh, yeah, my friend Cam is pitching tonight. And they'll be like, excuse me? It's almost like he's in his class. So they become really close, and it's really nice to see him look forward to, you know, watching their games and things like that. Cam, what do you think? I mean, I'm calling him Cam now. Walker, what do you think about the fact that the Yankees, you guys, you got their attention and now they've come to visit you. You've got this relationship and you can talk with them, you know, some of these players. How does that make you feel? Yeah, I bet it does. And you know what? I have to tell you, too, Walker. You know, they're big-time celebrities, right? Because they play for the New York Yankees. But now you, I think you're just as much of a celebrity as they are. What do you think about that? Pretty cool, huh? It makes things a little, makes it fun here. I mean. We're kind of confined to the hospital. He doesn't really get to get outside much. Thank you very much. We do the best with what we can, and looking forward to the games and having fun on social media with the guys has kind of been a way to pass the time. The Yankees, you know... I grew up a Yankees fan. My wife grew up a Yankees fan. So being able to have a team like that with the aura of the Yankees, just reach out and think about him and care about him. It's made a really difficult situation just a little bit easier. Yeah, I'm sure that it has. So now you guys have been living there since April. Has Walker been able to keep in contact with any of his friends from home? Is he able to text with them? What is he able to do? Walker, who's your favorite FaceTime call every week with? Yeah, so he FaceTimes with his friend Teddy and, you know, different friends back home and his cousins and try to keep in touch with everyone back home the best we can. Right now, things are a little hectic. We've got two younger children, so getting them to school, making sure he's taken care of, working as well. So, you know, we try and keep in touch with everyone back home, but, you know, just trying to power through this short period of time, hopefully. Yeah, so... Now, Walker is seven. How old are your two younger children? Yeah, so he's got a little sister, Kennedy, who's five, and a little brother, McCoy, who's three. Okay. And your wife, Nicole, now she's with the kids while you're there at the hospital, right? So we really, it's a team effort. We kind of tag team, and she'll do a week here, I'll do a week home, and we'll switch just to make sure. You know, we're keeping ourselves fresh and our minds right. So, yeah, we definitely tag-team it. And where's home here in our viewing area? So we live in Irvington, New York, so in Westchester County. Oh, beautiful. I'm up there. They're on a trip. So I grew up in the area. Nicole went to high school in the area. So we made a decision when it was time for his heart transplant. To make the move to Boston, which was a tough one to leave our house, but, you know, it's what we needed to do for him. Yeah, I mean, it's amazing. It really is. And what you and Nicole, I can only imagine what it's been like for you, you know, as parents dealing with this. But thank goodness that you have the hospital that you do. You said the hospital has been fantastic and that Walker actually is taking classes and things like that. He's able to learn while he's there. And have some semblance of normalcy, right? I'd say he has a pretty exceptional life up here. I kind of call it like his little summer camp. He's got a schedule on the door and he keeps to it. We've got something to do every hour. And, you know, he's really moving about the hospital pretty well. And it's funny to watch him walk down the hallways and kind of hear his name. Like, hey, Walker, what's going on? And he's kind of the mayor of Boston Children's right now while we're up here. And, Walker, that has to make you feel good, right, honey? You walk around the hospital, everybody knows your name, they talk to you. You're right. Yeah. Yeah. It's got to be pretty cool, too. I mean, you say that you do your FaceTime with Teddy, your friend, every week. What does he think, and what do your other friends think about your friendship with the New York Yankees? I mean, that's really rare. Not many people get that opportunity. Teddy, do you think it's cool? Yeah, Teddy likes it too. Teddy's a Yankee fan too, so they get to bond over that. Oh, that's awesome. Well, you know, I'm hoping that someday really, really soon that you get to go to another Yankees game. And you know what? I bet you, I bet you if you go to the game, I bet you they bring you down maybe to down on the field. What would that be like? Yeah, maybe, right? Maybe. That would be awesome. He's been getting a lot of practice in. There's a garden here at Boston Children's that we've been doing batting practice with the wiffle ball, and he's made a little bit of an indent in the grass out there because he's out there so often. So I think his arm will be ready to maybe throw out a first pitch someday. That would be awesome! Well, that's OK. He's going because his hat just fell off. That's OK, honey. So now the ball that you have there, is it signed by any of the Yankees? Let me see whose signature is that? Yes. Whoa, that's awesome. That is very exciting stuff. Anything else you want to say, Walker? Because you have a lot of fans, honey. A lot of people are watching you and watching your Instagram and the Yankees' Instagram. And everybody thinks it's really nice, really cool. Something he said to Ben Rice and some of the players that came, and it's kind of been his motto since we got here. So you want to say what that was? Want to say what that motto is that we've talked about that you've been telling them? We can do hard things. Say it again. We can do hard things. We can do hard things. That's right. That's right. That's an awesome motto. Well, I really, really appreciate you guys joining us today. Thank you so much. Walker, he's been a little shy. Oh my god. Oh my god. He gets shy on the camera sometimes. You know, he's getting used to his new celebrity. Good afternoon, everybody. But, yeah, no, we appreciate you telling the story. And, you know, bringing light to pediatric organ donation is really important to us. And we just hope that our story gets to other people that, you know. Maybe they're going through a tough time and maybe they're thinking about certain things but you know you can get through it. You can do the hard things and you know just look at Walker. That's right. Thank you both so much. Thank you Walker. Brian thank you and please thank your wife Nicole as well. And again I just want to remind everybody watching us that Walker is awaiting a heart transplant and you guys are at Boston Children's Hospital. So I'm giving you guys two thumbs up. Great job. Go Yankees! All right, guys. Thank you so much. Take good care.