Rainbows for Ryan

***UPDATE***
Just a little update for all the rainbows out there.
We have hit the milestone of Ryan being home for
a month !! There has been a lot of challenges some
foreseen some not! Ryan is going to the Stedward
for training 2x a week and is loving it. He also has
school part time. Kudos to the students of O’Leary
High School for making Ryan feel welcomed and
supported. How brave he has been with every new
challenge and still steps up . We are thankful for
all of you checking in and checking up on Ryan
you all are amazing in your continued support. It
is wonderful to do an update that has no medical
schmedical in it. We as a family continue to
believe that Ryan will overcome every barrier
placed in front of him. He has a determination and
a willingness to believe in himself. I would
encourage you all to take a moment today to see
the beauty and kindness in all of you. We see it
and hope you see it in yourselves. Let Ryan
believing in himself be a reminder for all of you to
believe in yourselves!!!
Take care and thanks to the Optimists for
supporting rainbows:)
*************

The Edmonton Dinner Club had a request for funds to
help a severely handicapped boy by purchasing yarn
bracelets. Detail of his illness are from his facebook
page.
Rainbows for Ryan are unique handmade crocheted
bracelets made with a rainbow coloured yarn as a fund
raiser for our Ry Guy.
To those of you who do not yet know Ryan, he is a hero
to our family. In April of this year, a life threatening
illness took him from being a Grade Ten High School
Football player who was 6’3” tall and 270 lbs to being
currently blind, deaf... and paraplegic. This illness
remains a medical mystery and continues to be reviewed
at medical conferences all over the world. As there is no
‘diagnosis’ – we have been given varying opinions from
the medical community regarding what they believe is
possible for Ryan.
This is what we know---Despite the gravity of this
situation and all the changes that Ryan has undergone,
his strength of character, tenacity, optimism, willingness
and sense of humour have remained strong and he has
impressed everyone who has come to know him. Staff
from PICU, Stollery and the Glenrose have all indicated
that getting to know and take care of Ryan has made a
difference to them both professionally and
personally—inspiring them as to what he sees as
possible.
Ryan continues to have unfailing optimism in life and
we as his family are blessed by his courage—these
bracelets are a symbol of that optimism and courage.
Why do we need to fundraise?? We as a family
understand that while Ryan still has more mountains to
climb in terms of nerve regeneration and rehab—we
believe that his sight, hearing and movement will
eventually return. We see how far he has come, how
much progress he has made and we are all so very proud
of him.

Our long-term l goal is to bring Ryan back home
and rejoin Archbishop O’Leary High School. It is
Ryan’s wish that he eventually return to playing
football and given the miracles he has
demonstrated thus far, we believe that this too is
possible.
However, while his nerves are regenerating and
his body is learning to cope with these changes, he
will continue to have special equipment needs
after his discharge from Glenrose. Alberta Health
Care and Alberta Aids to Daily Living are helping
with basic equipment like his wheelchair, and
there has been help offered by the Elks and
Eskimo’s in researching equipment for his eyes
and ears but there remains specialized equipment
to deal with his ‘not so small self ‘ that are not
covered or funded.
Included in this list are modifications to a vehicle
to allow wheelchair access and a lift that helps
move Ryan from his bedroom to the bathroom.
Ryan will also need to continue accessing the
Glenrose for rehab post discharge and trying to
work with current transportation systems in the
city have not been user friendly for this type of
care.
It is our intention to sell these bracelets to help
raise funds to help bring Ryan home when he is
ready.
Please message this page with your orders for
bracelets and let us know what donation you are
comfortable making for each bracelet. We
respectfully suggest a minimum order of two
dollars per bracelet.
To all who support this fundraiser and honouring
Ryan, we thank you so much on behalf of our
family and Ry Guy
If we show half the spirit and get up and go that
Ryan does on a daily basis we will make this
happen
Our Club has purchased 100 of those bracelets and they
are available for all members who want one.