The Dodgers took the Lemon Face Challenge to fight brain cancer -- and challenged the D-backs next
Normally a lemon makes you pucker up, but these may make you tear up. That's because the Dodgers -- led by
The challenge was started by 11-year-old Aubreigh Nichols, who suffers from a rare form of brain cancer known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), to help bring awareness to the disease. After Nick Saban started the event for Aubreigh's Army, Dodgers hitting coach Turner Ward challenged the Dodgers to eat a lemon wedge to help fight the disease.
If anything, it looks like
"Our hitting coach, Turner Ward, is a family friend of Aubrey -- an 11-year-old girl, diagnosed with DIPG," Hernandez said after the game. "Turner shared her story with me, what they were doing. She came up with the Lemon Face Challenge. He wanted us to do it to spread some awareness. It's a pretty sad story. She's only 11, going through tough days. She's battling. Turner asked and we all said, 'Why not? Let's do it as a group.'"
Hernandez also has close experience with cancer, as his father, Enrique Hernandez II, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer related to leukemia, though he's now in remission.
At the end of the video, the super utility player challenged the D-backs to take part. MLB.com's Steve Gilbert reported that Arizona will be slicing up the lemons before Sunday's game.
"I think it's a really cool idea," D-backs outfielder
Not only are these videos fun and help raise awareness, but they provide a real benefit, too. According to The Washington Post, the Ice Bucket Challenge raised $115 million for the ALS Association, which helped the organization discover "a new gene linked to the disease."