Chicago Cubs

Anthony Rizzo reaches out to a young Cubs fan who was brutally beaten

Published Feb. 8, 2017 10:14 a.m. ET

Chris Bahr

Anthony Rizzo is doing his best to make sure a very tough situation has a positive ending for a young Cubs fan who was brutally attacked at his suburban Chicago school Friday.

https://twitter.com/ARizzo44/status/828825268538204161

Henry Sembdner, a 12-year-old seventh grader at Kenyon Woods Middle School, suffered facial fractures and other injuries (and initially was on a breathing tube) after he was beaten by another student, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Fellow classmates began tweeting with a #staystrong hashtag and wearing Cubs gear in support of Henry, and it caught the attention of the Cubs first baseman. Rizzo retweeted many of the messages and made a special promise to Henry:

https://twitter.com/ARizzo44/status/828818056256319488

On Tuesday night, Henry’s family announced the great news that he was headed home from the hospital:

https://twitter.com/KarSluvsPlexus/status/829151469777670144

Kudos to Rizzo – and all of Henry’s classmates – for helping Henry through a terrible time. We can’t wait to see the two on the field together at Wrigley Field.