Tommy Ryan marked one year cancer-free by cheering on his beloved Islanders at UBS Arena.
The 18-year-old superfan, who lost his left lung to a rare fungal infection during leukemia treatment, watched the New York Islanders defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 last Thursday with his girlfriend Emily by his side. Ryan, a Rockland County native, has become something of a fixture around the franchise after the team embraced him during the darkest stretch of his medical ordeal.
Ryan was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia as a high school junior when routine lacrosse training suddenly became a struggle. The strain was Philadelphia positive, an aggressive newer variant that demanded immediate chemotherapy at Memorial Sloan Kettering. While immunocompromised from that treatment, he contracted mucormycosis, an extremely rare “black” fungal infection that ravaged his entire left lung and forced doctors to cut his chemo plan short.
“It spread to all of my left lung, and they had to end up cutting the chemo plan short,” Ryan told The Post. “Instead, doing an emergency surgery and removing my whole left lung, which was super super risky.”
Ryan’s family understood the surgery carried a frighteningly high probability of death, and they masked what could have been final goodbyes as ordinary pre-operation well wishes. The procedure launched 150 days in the hospital, with 130 of them spent in the pediatric ICU. During that stretch, Ryan was placed in a five-day medically induced coma, emerging unable to walk, talk, or eat for extended periods.
“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.”
That offseason chatter came from Wayne, Ryan’s stepdad, who had instilled the lifelong Islanders devotion in him, and from father Dan, who took the pivotal step of reaching out to the franchise directly. The team responded by arranging a FaceTime call in July 2025 between Ryan in his hospital bed and his favorite player, Mat Barzal.
“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 they would meet in person once Ryan grew stronger, and the star made good last March. He flipped Ryan a puck during warmups, then joined teammates in meeting him outside the locker room post-game to present a signed stick bearing the message “you inspire me!” That evening also brought glass seats and time in co-owner Jon Ledecky’s box during a 1-0 victory over the Blue Jackets.
“I was going through some super rough times,” Ryan recalled. “Getting my body back to normal, not being in school, it gave my mind something to look forward to.”
The bone marrow scans last October delivered the news Ryan had fought for: cancer-free. He has since enrolled at Rockland Community College and estimates his strength at roughly 70% of his pre-cancer baseline, a remarkable rebound given the extensive relearning his body required.
“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.
Ryan’s return to UBS Arena as a regular fan this month, girlfriend Emily alongside him for their three-year relationship milestone, represented something beyond simple attendance. The Islanders had featured him in a team docuseries celebrating his resilience, and the organization has treated him as family throughout his journey.
“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’s recovery philosophy now centers on gratitude and presence. “I definitely don’t take anything for granted,” he said. “I try to live every day to the full, and I’m just happy.”
The hockey devotee who once tracked the Islanders draft of Matthew Schaefer from a hospital bed still leans on the team as motivation, though now from a vastly different vantage. His remaining goal is straightforward: experiencing playoff hockey live for the first time.
“I’ve never been to a playoff game before — and I’d love to see that this spring.”