When Toronto Blue Jays ace Marcus Stroman heard about 10-year-old Aaryan Dinh-Ali’s story, he had to reach out.

The boy has a rare bone marrow disease called aplastic anemia and has received roughly 90 blood transfusions from more than 3,000 donors since being admitted to Sick Kids Hospital in November.

After family and friends launched the Match4Aary.com campaign to try to find him a stem cell donor, Stroman did what he could to support one of his biggest fans.

He actually met Aaryan in October, before the youngster’s condition took a dramatic turn for the worse. During a hat-signing event at Toronto’s flagship New Era store, Stroman signed Aaryan’s hats and introduced him to teammates Aaron Sanchez and Mark Lowe.

“He said, ‘Mom, he’s such a nice guy, Marcus Stroman, he was really nice to me. I got to sit with him upstairs in the office and have one-on-one time with him,’ and he’s been Stroman all the way since,” said Jenny Dinh, Aaryan’s mother, who struggles to talk about her son’s illness but smiles when talking about Stroman.

The pitcher has since sent Aaryan two of his custom hats, posted an Instagram video to say he’s looking forward to seeing him at the home opener and tweeted his acceptance of a deal to exchange a signed Stroman jersey for a signed Match4Aary hat and T-shirt. Major League Baseball also sent Aaryan some Jays gear.

“He’s a huge Blue Jays fan and I know he’s looking forward to the season and I know he’s a huge fan of myself,” Stroman said following his 4-2 win over the Yankees on Thursday. “I just tried to reach out to him and let him know that we have him in our prayers and that we hope everything kind of goes well.”

For Aaryan, who has battled through everything from depression, to numbness on his left side, to disorientation so bad he didn’t know who his parents were, Stroman’s support has made a real difference.

“It’s been overwhelming for us, it’s been overwhelming for Aaryan. It’s been great,” his mother said. “The whole thing with Stroman was amazing. It lifted his spirit.”

Pulled from school for months, Aaryan has just recently returned twice a week. He’s not allowed to play house league baseball or go out for recess because he bruises easily and is at risk for internal bleeding.

The Blue Jays are his retreat.

“He feels at peace when it has anything to do with Blue Jays and baseball,” Jenny said of her son, whom she describes as silly and unique. “For a child to be going through such an ordeal and for a player to actually send out an Instagram and a tweet to a child, it makes him feel special and he is special.”

Aaryan wasn’t able to go to the home opener, but he’s been to two other Jays wins early this season, including Wednesday’s 7-2 blowout. He was hoping to follow through on his deal to exchange signed shirts with Stroman that night.

“He was supposed to pitch today but somehow he’s pitching tomorrow,” said Aaryan, wearing a Stroman jersey.

He’s also still waiting to find a stem cell match. It’s a challenge because his parents are Afghan and Vietnamese.

But Aaryan’s family wasn’t even sure he’d be able to attend Jays games this season.

“He’s had the grace of people who have donated. He has other people’s blood in his veins and he’s going to his Jays games,” Jenny said with a sigh while holding her head. “Certain people have things that help them cope and the Jays are definitely his.”