Hey Moshers! In this edition of Mosher’s Memoirs we share Ryan’s story.
Ryan was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia at just 20 years old. In late 2023, he started to suffer with repeated infections and found himself consistently out of breath. He also had night sweats, his skin changed to a pale yellow colour, he had a lump in his neck and this combination of symptoms caused difficulties with mobility and day to day life.
Ryan went to the GP in October 2023 to discuss his symptoms and was told it was more than likely a vitamin D deficiency. They did offer him a blood test but he would have had to travel to other side of the city and Ryan, trusting in the initial diagnosis and not having any reason to think there was anything seriously wrong with him decided against it.
In November of that same year, Ryan visited A&E as his symptoms continued to plague his life. After taking blood, they found Ryan’s haemoglobin count was at 32g/L. The normal range is between 120-160g/L.
He was given blood transfusions immediately and a couple of days later was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and was in need of a live saving stem cell transplant. Despite this earth shattering news, Ryan kept his sense of humour and wore a brave smile through every step of his journey, which included three cycles of high dose chemotherapy.
Against all odds, Ryan miraculously went into remission after his first cycle of chemo, the induction cycle.
In February 2024, Ryan’s brother, Noah, was tested for tissue type matching for stem cell donation. Thankfully, he was a match for this life saving procedure.
In late May 2024 Ryan was admitted for his stem cell transplant which was followed after strong myeloablative conditioning. This which caused a slew of side effects like mucositis, loss of hair and appetite, vomiting and irritable skin. Ryan was able to receive his brothers stem cells on the 6th June 2024.
In January 2025, Ryans brother’s stem cells achieved 100% chimerism in his bone marrow. Simply put, this meant all his cells were originally from his brother.
Then came Download 2025. We’ll let Ryan’s words speak for themselves.
“I went download as my first ever music festival and I marked it as a celebration because I wouldn’t have had the opportunity if it wasn’t for my brother. He’s younger than me but he is also in the army and I say that even though he is my younger brother, I see him as 100,000x the man that I am and I look up to him as I think he is amazing for what he has accomplished and by saving my life.”
We think you’re a hell of a man yourself, Ryan.
At time of writing, Ryan continues to be in remission and will be joining us at Download 2026 for our first official meetup. Come along to The Outpost on Friday at 11am and say hello to this courageous young man, along with Sallie, Amy and all the moshers who’re able to join us for this awesome event!
