School communities rally for local teacher, coach Aaron Pines who’s battling cancer

A local high school teacher and baseball coach is battling cancer again.

Aaron Pines, a math instructor at Edison High School and the head baseball coach at Los Amigos, said he recently resumed chemotherapy as part of the treatment for the disease, which he first began fighting in 2019.

He said the cancer started on his tongue and neck, and he underwent multiple surgeries to remove it. Then it returned in the summer of 2020, and he had another surgery in July.

“Then starting in September or October, I went through chemo and radiation treatment concurrently and missed the first three months of school this year,” said Pines, who is 33. “The chemo and radiation was really bad. That was the hardest part.”

In November, he got married to his wife, Deriah, at Five Crowns in Corona del Mar. Through the holidays, he continued to make a slow recovery as he worked to regain his eating habits and the ability to swallow following neck surgery.

But on Jan. 15, Pines said a phone call brought more bad news. The results of an examination indicated that the cancer had spread to his lungs and pelvic bone.

Aaron Pines, right, and his wife Deriah, left, got married in November.

(Courtesy of Aaron Pines)

Many well-wishers have come forth to offer their support to Pines through this struggle. This week, a GoFundMe page was established to help the Pines family with the financial burden that comes with receiving treatment for the disease.

In the first two days, more than $35,000 had been raised in support of Pines by Thursday afternoon.

Included on the GoFundMe page was a personal message delivered from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, of whom Pines is a fan.

“Aaron, I want to say thank you so much for being a fan,” Johnson said in a video. “I appreciate it. I heard your story. I’m moved, but your story is moving everybody around you. You’re inspiring everybody around you, including me, and I just wanted to send you some love, send you some support, send you some strength, send you some manna your way, and tell you to stay strong, and tell you to keep fighting.”

Johnson added that he cannot wait to hear positive results regarding Pines’ ongoing battle with cancer.

After discovering Pines’ fandom for The Rock, Edison Principal Jennifer Graves said she had expressed a hope that they would be able to connect with Johnson in an effort to lift Pines’ spirits. She said that Edison athletic director Rich Boyce played a key role in forming that connection.

“I think we’re absolutely 100% here for him,” Graves said. “We want to do whatever it takes to give him just some positivity, know that we’re here for him, and whatever he needs, we just want to be here to help him, support him, and help him with this fight. We just want him back, and the kids want him to be here, and we want him to have a full life, and so whatever he needs, we want to be able to be here to help him.”

Graves added that Pines has been a member of the faculty at Edison for seven years.

Aaron Pines makes a call to the bullpen for the Edison High School baseball team.

(Courtesy of Andrea Harrell)

Seeking to become a head coach for a varsity baseball program for the first time, Pines walked on at Los Amigos in that role ahead of the 2020 season. Recalling that first season, Pines said that the Lobos were to face Rancho Alamitos, where his brother Greg coaches, in a Garden Grove League game the day that the coronavirus pandemic shut down high school athletics.

The Lobos were 4-6 when last season was cut short, but they had won four of their last five.

Los Amigos athletic director Chris Sandro said the school was lucky to get Pines when it did, but he wants Pines to take care of himself right now. Adam LaMendola, who headed the program for eight seasons previously, will be the interim head coach for the Los Amigos baseball program, Sandro confirmed.

“We’re here for him,” Sandro said of Pines. “We wish him the best. We wish him a speedy recovery, and his job is here. The kids are pulling for him. The coaching staff is pulling for him. I’m pulling for him. We’re trying to support him in any way we can, and when he’s better, the job’s his, and we’ll welcome him back with open arms.”

Pines said that people are stepping up across the board as he continues his fight.

“There’s heroes on all sides,” Pines said.

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