Liam Hendriks throws a batting practice session as teammates look on before the Red Sox game against the Royals on Aug. 6 in Kansas City, Mo. Reed Hoffmann/Associated Press

It was quite a week for Liam Hendriks.

He spent much of Tuesday and Wednesday upstairs at Fenway Park, high above the field where the Red Sox faced the Rangers. The 22nd annual Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon was taking place and Hendricks wasn’t going to miss it.

Hendriks. a three-time All-Star closer, is a cancer survivor.

He returned from stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma last season while pitching for the Chicago White Sox, back on the mound just five months after his diagnosis, and was the American League Comeback Player of the Year.

Now he’s returning from Tommy John surgery, a process that takes most pitchers at least 15 months. Hendriks underwent surgery last August and was back on the mound in a competitive game Sunday, topping 95 mph in a scoreless inning for the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox. He threw 10 of his 12 pitches for strikes.

After cancer, elbow surgery isn’t as daunting as it might be for others. In fact, Hendriks uses his experience to help others realize things might not be as bad as they seem. He has traveled with the Red Sox all season, meeting cancer patients and families across the country as part of his Hendriks’ Heroes program. His goal is to help remove the stigma that goes with a cancer diagnosis and the treatment that goes with it.

“With the advancements and everything, it’s not an immediate death sentence,” Hendriks said in his telethon appearance.

He speaks from experience. Last year, while undergoing chemotherapy, he would return to the field and throw between treatments. He attacked the disease the way he attacked hitters, on the offensive from the moment he got the diagnosis.

Hendriks isn’t a patient man. He joked with me that he had been a patient when he was battling cancer and had enough of that. He has pushed the Red Sox medical staff to let him take on a more aggressive approach to his recovery from Tommy John surgery. He did the same thing with oncologists, increasing dosages so he could finish treatment in a shorter time period and return to the field.

While undergoing that treatment, he often thought of what a friend told him. The friend, a cancer survivor himself, told Hendriks, “No one can tell you what to do. All you can do is what you feel is right.”

With that in mind, Hendriks has pushed to speed up the process. He hopes to be back with Boston after another five to seven appearances in the minors, including with the Portland Sea Dogs this week in the series against the Somerset Patriots. He could be with the club by the end of the month, his goal when he signed in March.

The Red Sox could use the help. Boston has the highest bullpen ERA in the second half of the season, and late-game pitching problems are why the team is 12-16 since the All-Star break. Hendriks’ experience as a closer would be a welcome addition to a bullpen running on fumes.

So would his attitude. It’s what has fueled him over the last two years, when he has thrown just five innings. In his mind, there was never any doubt he would help the Red Sox in 2024 – even if the team signed him to a two-year deal with 2025 in mind.

“I still remember the Zoom meeting with him and his wife (Kristi),” said Red Sox Manager Alex Cora last week, “and the way they talked I was like, ‘Wow, they really think (he can return this season).’ ”

It would be an epic return for a pitcher who has become an inspiration for cancer patients across the country. And a boost to a bullpen that has been dragging in the August heat.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.