Iowa second baseman Izaya Fullard deals with effects of hand surgery, and his mother’s fight against leukemia

CEDAR RAPIDS — Mom is doing well.

“I remember getting the call, and it was honestly the lowest I’ve been in a long time,” Izaya Fullard said. “I didn’t know how to react. Your parents are those people who are superheroes. You don’t really think anything can happen to them.”

Reiko Ono-Fullard was diagnosed with leukemia the first of February and spent a month in the hospital getting initial treatment. She’s back at home now, receiving oral chemotherapy and getting checkups every other week, her son said.

The Iowa Hawkeyes senior second baseman has been amazed by the support his family has received during this trying time. A GoFundMe campaign created by the mother of one of his former teammates at Iowa City West High School has raised more than $47,000 to help the Fullard family with out-of-pocket costs related to Reiko’s treatment.

Ken Fullard played basketball at Iowa from 1983 to 1985. He and Reiko also have a daughter, Keiko, who is in high school at Iowa City Liberty.

“Just hearing my mom had cancer and going to see her in the hospital so vulnerable was really tough on me,” Izaya said. “Baseball has been good for me. It has given me a way to escape that and not think about it at times.”

This is not the senior season Fullard intended. It’s not just his mother’s illness, but he has missed a significant portion of games after being diagnosed with a broken hamate bone in his left hand.

He had surgery to remove it, also in February, had an initial comeback attempt aborted, but is toughing it out now the rest of the way despite not being 100 percent. Iowa plays a three-game Big Ten Conference home series Friday, Saturday and Sunday against Minnesota.

“I thought I had a really good fall, thought I put myself in a good position to succeed this spring,” Fullard said. “That was kind of disappointing to have that setback. But that’s what happens. Injuries are a part of the game.

“After I had the surgery, I wanted to rush back, get back onto the field as quickly as possible. But you don’t really understand how important your hands are in baseball ... It’s honestly just giving it time to heal and waiting for the right time to get back.”

Fullard said he initially felt discomfort in his hand/wrist area last fall, hoping rest would take care of the problem. It did for a while, but once full practices began in the new year, the discomfort returned.

A trip to a hand specialist and resulting CT scan revealed the fracture. Fullard attempted to come back in mid-March but the pain was just too much.

He returned again for the second game of Iowa’s doubleheader April 2 against Michigan and isn’t looking back. He is hitting .333 in eight games and has more walks (four) than strikeouts (three).

That has been the pattern in the college career of a guy always known as a pure hitter. After a standout freshman season at Kirkwood Community College, Fullard hit .307 for the Hawkeyes as a sophomore, was hitting .400 in 15 games when COVID-19 canceled the 2019 season and hit .296 last season.

“Some days are better than others,” Fullard said. “Right now, practice hurts more than games, just because of the amount of swings. I’m taking swings constantly in practices. In games, I’m only taking a few swings at a time, and there is a lot of time between pitches. That gives me a little bit of time to rest it. So I definitely do still feel it, don’t feel strong at all. I don’t know if I have the pop that I used to, but I just want to be out there helping the team win.

“Anything I can do is what I’m trying to do right now.”

Fullard is content with whatever he can do, even if it’s not everything he could do pre-surgery. There are more important things than baseball.

Way more important. Like mom.

“It’s been a rough year,” Fullard said. “It’s been a lot. Definitely everything came full force. You don’t really expect anything like this to happen. But, honestly, it just makes you put things into perspective.

“Just take every day like it’s your last.”

Comments: jeff.johnson@thegazette.com