Bensalem's Stephanie Yost battles back to softball field

BENSALEM, Pa. (WPVI) -- With a .300 batting average, Bensalem softball player Stephanie Yost swings with ease.

But just to take the field has been the fight of her life.

Three years ago, at the end of her freshman year, Yost was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Doctors said she had only a 45% chance of surviving.

"She cried in the beginning and then she said, 'OK, we're done. That's done. We're not crying anymore. We're going to battle this and we're going to win,'" mother Toni Yost said.

"I actually think it was harder on them than it was on me cause I had the mindset that I'm going to do everything I can to not let it beat me," Stephanie said.

Determined to hit this curveball, she went through chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, spending the next six months in the hospital.

The driving force in her recovery was to drive in another run for Bensalem.

And sure enough, a year into her diagnosis, she was back on the field and now is one of the faces on the varsity team.

"The first time she got back on the field I bawled like a baby," Toni said.

Thursday was another emotional day for Stephanie and her family. It was her final game at Bensalem.

She graduates next month and she's going to college to become a pediatric nurse. Her goal in life is to help other sick kids fight back just like she did.

"It's going to be a great day to see her walk back on the [hospital] floor working, just visiting," Toni said.

Stephanie is in remission and will have another checkup in August.