Ryan

Ryan is a sweet, friendly and resilient little boy. At 4 months, we noticed his right leg was severely bowed. At the next doctor’s appointment we asked about his leg and his doctor started counting spots on his body. Little did we know these spots were common in people with Neurofibromatosis. A few days later, Ryan was diagnosed with NF1.
Ryan had tibia dysplasia in his right leg. A condition about 1 percent of patients with NF get. We were told he probably would never be able to be physical and play sports because his bone had a very high chance of fracturing and then not healing. At 9 months, Ryan’s leg fractured. We waited to see if it would heal, but it didn’t. We tried a rod surgery and within months it failed. Then right before Ryan turned 2, Ryan had his lower right leg amputated. Ryan is a strong and happy kid. He loves to ski, play basketball and run around with his older brother Jack. He is an inspiration to us everyday.