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Barrington teen fighting leukemia will be honorary bat kid for Cubs

Noah Toth figures that he has worn the same blue-and-white Cubs hat just about everywhere for the past five years.

Before the Cubs host the St. Louis Cardinals Saturday afternoon, the 15-year-old from Barrington and his hat will go where neither has been before - the Cubs dugout.

Noah will be the game's honorary bat kid, meaning he'll get to take photos with players, collect autographs and take in the pregame warm-ups from the field, before watching the game from the stands with his parents and three brothers.

"I just can't believe I was lucky enough to get to do this," said Noah, a sophomore at Barrington High School. "I'm most excited to be able to experience something that most kids just dream of, in my favorite city in the whole world."

Noah has been battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia this summer. He is receiving care at Advocate Children's Hospital in Park Ridge. His "bat kid" opportunity came through Advocate Health Care, one of the Cubs' sponsors.

Noah's mother, Liz, said hospital staff noticed her son's devotion to the Cubs and approached him with the opportunity. Noah said he was shocked by the offer.

"I was dumbfounded, that's for sure," Noah said. "I had no idea that the Cubs did anything like this."

Noah said his first thought was to see if there were other kids at the hospital who would enjoy the opportunity more than him.

"If he was going to decline I would have taken it," Liz joked. "It will be a nice experience and I'm sure he'll take more from this than just baseball."

The physicians and clinicians closest to Noah say his outlook is inspiring. "He's a cool kid who is easy to love," said Kevynne Chawla, a child life specialist at Advocate Children's Hospital. "Everyone gravitates to him because he has the best attitude and a great personality."

Joining Noah and Liz at the game will be his father, Steve, and his younger brothers, Joshua, 14, and twins Jacob and Simon, both 13.

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