Ryne Sandberg had a moving message for Cubs fans during his statue ceremony

Sunday was an eventful day for Ryne Sandberg as the Cubs unveiled his new statue outside of Wrigley Field.

In fact, it’s fair to sum up Sandberg’s entire year as a whirlwind.

Six months before fans came in droves and most of the 1984 Cubs team gathered at Gallagher Way, Sandberg was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer.

But he was declared cured of cancer a month before the statue ceremony.

“As far as the fans are concerned, you have always made it clear how you feel,” Sandberg said during his speech. “You have carried me my entire career but you have taken it to a whole new level and I have felt every single one of your posts on social media and in person through your comments.

“You are my friends now and you have been with me through months of chemo and radiation. I will never be able to thank you properly.

(READ: ‘It’s beautiful’: Cubs fan Bill Murray reacts to Ryne Sandberg statue)

Sandberg made special mention of his former teammates and many others associated with Major League Baseball, who also reached out during his cancer treatment.

“My life changed a lot in 1984, but that’s nothing compared to what happened six months ago,” he said. “So my thoughts today are about love, life, family and friends. My teammates fall into all of these categories. But until my cancer diagnosis, I guess I never really understood that.

“The number of people from baseball who have reached out to me this year is astonishing. I haven’t had contact with some for 20, 30 or 40 years. I now feel that love that was always there, but I was too busy producing 60 extra ground balls every morning to know it was happening.

“We are what we are and that was me. I love you.”

Even though Sandberg was enduring an unprecedented battle, he still felt like he was going to be able to be healthy for this statue ceremony.

“With what I went through, it was definitely a goal,” he said. “I had a goal of throwing out the first pitch at Wrigley Field, which I did this year, and then being here and everything, it was a guarantee for me.

“I kind of went back to my baseball days where I had goals and my attitude and working every day for something. That’s what I did and it worked. Like I told the fans: Cubs fans, I feel good and everything is going in the right direction.

Watch the full Sandberg statue ceremony on the Marquee Sports Network app.