Cancer survivor honored by Phillies in 2015 brings 'miracle boy' to his first game in 'full circle' moment

PHILADELPHIA - A South Jersey mother who at a young age overcame an aggressive and rare form of cancer had a full-circle moment in her first trip to Citizens Bank Park with her infant son. 

Julie Kramer, just 23-years-old at the time, threw out the first pitch at the Phillies 2015 home opener in recognition of her surviving stage 4 Synovial Sarcoma of the lung. 

When Julie was diagnosed she was given the option of having her eggs frozen, but she declined because it would have delayed her treatment by three weeks. 

"I took the chance and knew if I wanted kids in the future, I wouldn't be able to have them," Julie said. "I was okay with that at the time because I had one thing to focus on and that was saving my life."

Julie and her infant son Miles at their first Phillies game together.

Julie, who at one point during her battle was given just three months to live, found the courage and strength to stay positive during her treatment. She would battle cancer two more times and has been cancer-free since 2016. 

When it came time for Julie to consider having children, she thought about pursuing invitro fertilization but was told the prognosis was not good. 

"A few months or a year after I came to accept it – viola! surprise! – there's a baby in my belly," Julie told FOX 29's Dawn Timmeny. 

Against the odds. Julie and her partner Brian Vinogradov welcomed Miles into the world on Nov. 8, 2022.

They brought their 6-month-old "miracle boy" to Citizens Bank Park for his first Phillies game, a moment that reminded Julie about the unpredictability of life. 

"Full circle, so crazy, everything I've been through – I don't know – life keeps surprising me in ways I would never have imagined," Julie said.