Chelsea Freeman expressed her gratitude to the doctors and nurses of the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Children’s Hospital of Orange County by treating them to a special night at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
The healthcare workers accompanied Chelsea and her three sons, Charlie, Brandon John and Maximus, to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Cleveland Guardians.
For Max, it was his first game since being released from the hospital in early August due to a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome.
The group posed together in blue “#MaxStrong” shirts that Dodgers players, coaches and broadcasters began wearing while Max was hospitalized.
Max initially fell ill during the 2024 All-Star break in July, along with his two brothers. While Max’s siblings eventually recovered, his condition significantly worsened.
He was put on a ventilator to aid with breathing and required feeding tubes after being admitted to the hospital. Freddie Freeman left the Dodgers on July 26 and was placed on the family emergency list the following day.
Freeman was away from the Dodgers for eight games but felt comfortable returning on Aug. 5 because of Max getting released from the hospital and making strides at home.
“It’s a good thing I’m here, because it means things are trending better,” Freeman said his first day back. “Wednesday at 10:46, I’ll never forget it, he had his ventilator pulled. We had P.T. there, so right when his ventilator was pulled, within six minutes he was sitting on me. I can’t tell you how good that felt, to be able to hold my son again.”
