He put his cancer battle on ice.
After surviving a devastating medical ordeal that claimed his left lung and left him in a coma, 18-year-old Tommy Ryan celebrated a full year cancer-free this month alongside the New York Islanders, the team that helped carry him through some of his darkest days.
“I definitely don’t take anything for granted,” Ryan told The Post.
“I try to live every day to the full, and I’m just happy,” he added. The devoted Islanders fan has been embraced by the organization for months and was even featured in a team docuseries highlighting his remarkable resilience.
On Thursday night, Ryan returned to UBS Arena as a regular fan, joined by Emily, his girlfriend of three years, to watch the Islanders defeat 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 a rare form of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia during his junior year of high school, after the gifted football and lacrosse player suddenly found himself unable to handle the training routine for his spring season in 2025.
“It was a strain called Philadelphia positive, which is a newer, aggressive type of leukemia,” he said.
While undergoing chemotherapy at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Ryan developed mucormycosis, an exceptionally rare and dangerous “black” fungal infection that took hold while his immune system was weakened.
“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 understood that the operation carried a frighteningly high risk of death. Before he went into surgery, they disguised what might have been their final farewells as ordinary words of encouragement.
Ryan spent 150 days in the hospital, including 130 days in the pediatric intensive care unit. Through it all, the Islanders became a crucial source of comfort and motivation — particularly after the team selected Matthew Schaefer in the draft.
“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 who inherited his lifelong passion for the team from his stepfather, Wayne.
At the lowest point of his recovery, Ryan was placed in a medically induced coma for five days following surgery for the infection. While he was unconscious and during the difficult weeks afterward, Wayne and other relatives kept him informed about the Islanders.
“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, contacted the Islanders to explain what his son was facing.
The organization responded in a major way, arranging for Ryan’s favorite player, Mat Barzal, to FaceTime him in his hospital room 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 also promised Ryan they would meet in person once the teenager recovered enough to do so. At the time, Ryan was still living with a tracheotomy.
“It definitely made my day,” Ryan said.
Barzy delivered on his promise last March.
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.
Now Ryan just has one more task for the Isles.
“I’ve never been to a playoff game before — and I’d love to see that this spring.”
