Make New York Post a Preferred Source He put cancer on ice.
A young, devout Islanders fan who went through a near-death medical nightmare that cost him his left lung and put him in a coma had the biggest power play of his life this month — celebrating a full year cancer-free with his favorite hockey team in his corner.
“I definitely don’t take anything for granted,” 18-year-old Tommy Ryan told The Post.
“I try to live every day to the full, and I’m just happy,” added Ryan, who the Islanders have been treating like family for months and featured him in a team docuseries for his resilience.
He joyfully returned to UBS Arena Thursday night as a regular fan with his girlfriend of three years, Emily, to watch the Isles beat the Blackhawks 4-1.
“The hard work has paid off,” Ryan said. “I’m just super happy to be here — super happy to enjoy the game, and thankful for the Islanders, for everything they’ve done for me.”
Ryan was diagnosed with rare B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia as a junior in high school when the talented football and lacrosse player suddenly struggled with routine training for his spring sport in 2025.
“It was a strain called Philadelphia positive, which is a newer, aggressive type of leukemia,” he said.
Ryan began chemo treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering when he contracted another extremely rare “black” fungal infection called mucormycosis while immunocompromised.
“It spread to all of my left lung, and they had to end up cutting the chemo plan short,” he said.
“Instead, doing an emergency surgery and removing my whole left lung, which was super super risky.”
Ryan’s family knew there was a frighteningly high probability he wouldn’t survive the procedure and disguised what could have been their final goodbyes as pre-operation well wishes.
During an extensive 150 days in the hospital, 130 of which Ryan spent in the pediatric ICU, he used his beloved Isles as a saving grace to keep morale up — especially after watching them draft Matthew Schaefer.
“Just talking about the Islanders, watching games, it always helped me keep my mind off of the bad stuff,” said Ryan, a Rockland County native whose lifelong love for the team came from his stepdad, Wayne.
When times were the darkest, and Ryan had to be placed in a five-day medically induced coma after the surgery for his infection, Wayne and other family kept him up to date on what was going on with the team while he was unconscious and afterward.
“I remember, especially when I was out of my coma, I couldn’t walk for months. I couldn’t talk for probably a solid month, and I couldn’t eat,” Ryan said. “Everyone would just talk to me about the Isles that offseason.”
Ryan’s father, Dan, reached out to the Islanders and told the franchise what his boy was going through.
The team delivered big time by having the teen’s favorite player, Mat Barzal, FaceTime Ryan in his hospital bed in July 2025.
“It was just a huge, huge thing that they did for me,” Ryan said. “It took my mind off of the illness and put me in a different state of mind.”
Barzal promised a meeting in person when Ryan, who also had a tracheotomy, became healthier.
He flipped Ryan a puck during warmups and then, with teammates, met him outside the locker room post-game to give the cancer fighter a signed hockey stick with the message “you inspire me!”
“I was going through some super rough times,” said Ryan, who was treated to seats on the glass and a spot in the owner’s box with Jon Ledecky that night during a thrilling 1-0 win vs. the Blue Jackets.
“Getting my body back to normal, not being in school, it gave my mind something to look forward to.”
Ryan’s been nothing but a winner in getting his life back on track — especially after he got the wonderful cancer-free news on his bone marrow scans last October.
Ryan is now enrolled at Rockland Community College and said his strength is about 70% of what it was pre-cancer.
“I had to relearn how to walk. I had to relearn how to talk, got the strength back in my arms, my legs, kind of just my whole body, and worked my way up from there,” he said.
“I’ve never been to a playoff game before — and I’d love to see that this spring.”
