Marin Catholic High School baseball player Gunnar Sandberg is scheduled to be released from a San Francisco rehabilitation facility on Tuesday, his sister Kalli said in a recent online posting.
Kalli Sandberg has been detailing her brother's recovery on the website CaringBridge.org since Sandberg, 16, was struck in the head with a baseball during a game in Kentfield on March 11. He was placed in a medically induced coma at Marin General Hospital and a portion of his skull was removed before he was transferred to the rehabilitation facility.
Sandberg and his family will attend the Marin Catholic-Justin Sienna High School baseball game at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Kalli Sandberg said. After throwing out the first pitch, Sandberg will sit with his team in the dugout, his sister said. Ticket revenue from the game will go to the Gunnar Sandberg Fund.
Sandberg also will throw out the first pitch at the San Francisco Giants-Oakland Athletics game on May 23 in Oakland, Kalli said.
"All of this good news makes us all so happy but it is still a long road towards a full recovery," she said.
Her brother will be living at home but will return to the rehabilitation facility for therapy three times a week, Kalli said. Sandberg will be wearing a helmet wherever he goes until the piece of skull removed from his head is replaced within the next few weeks, Kalli said.
A fundraising dinner and auction will be held from 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday at the Marin Country Club in Novato.
The ball that struck Sandberg was hit with a metal bat, and the incident revived a controversy about the use of metal bats in high school games.
High school baseball teams in the Marin County Athletic League stopped using non-wood bats for the remainder of the season, but the North Coast Section voted last week to continue using metal bats during the upcoming championship games.
