Last fall David Michael Ryan was a familiar site on the sidelines of football games at Wheaton North High School, lending his courageous spirit to his teammates as he watched from his wheelchair. For 13 months, Mr. Ryan, 18, battled a brain tumor, but that didn’t stop him from donning a Falcons’ jersey and cheering the team that meant so much to him.
“He was a great kid, a courageous kid. I can’t say enough about him. He just had no fear,” said Ralph Heatherington, Wheaton North principal.
Mr. Ryan died Monday, May 13, in his home in Wheaton. His passion for life was surpassed only by a strong faith that helped him through the terrible ordeal that robbed him of movement and speech, said his father, Michael. “Towards the end he could only communicate with his eyes,” his father said. “I asked him if he was scared. His eyes moved back and forth telling me no. He was 100 percent confident he was stepping into a better life.”
Born in Southfield, Mich., Oct. 4, 1983, Mr. Ryan moved with his family to Wheaton when he was 2 years old. He attended Lowell Elementary School, Hubble Middle School and Wheaton North High School, where he played football. At the start of his junior year, he suffered a concussion in preseason play. His father said he decided to sit out the year to work on becoming stronger.
He first showing symptoms of a brain tumor in April 2001. Mr. Ryan was unable to play football again, though he continued to attend games and support the team.
“At the end of the game all of the players would come and shake his hand. He showed how strong a person could be through all of that,” Heatherington said.
Earlier this year Mr. Ryan was honored with the Bill O’Rourke Courage Award sponsored by the National Football Foundation.
Mr. Ryan was active in Student Impact at Willow Creek Church in South Barrington, Campus Life–Youth for Christ in Wheaton, Hyacks, a student group, at College Church in Wheaton, and Awana’s at Wheaton Evangelical Free Church.
Besides his father, Mr. Ryan also is survived by his mother, Evelyn; a sister, Katherine; a brother, Christopher; and grandparents Claire Ryan and John and Alberta Stanton. Visitation will be held from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in Williams-Kampp Funeral Home, 430 E. Roosevelt Rd., Wheaton. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday in College Church of Wheaton, Seminary at Washington Street, Wheaton.
