St. Andrew’s School Boys Lacrosse Team Draft Two New Teammates
The St. Andrew’s School (Austin, TX) Boys Lacrosse program have officially drafted Ryan and Henry Etten as its newest team members.
Ryan, who will join the Crusaders on their sidelines this season, is a six-year-old boy from Austin, who was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a grade 4 brain tumor, in November 2015. Over the past 15 months, Ryan has been treated by a dozen doctors in three hospitals, beginning with a nine-hour surgery that left him paralyzed on one side of his body, and unable to speak or eat for three weeks. He could not walk on his own for more than three months.
After post-surgical recovery at Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, Ryan was medically transferred to Houston where he underwent 30 craniospinal proton beam radiation treatments over the course of 40 days. In that same time period, he knocked-out more than 50 physical, occupational, and speech rehab sessions, just hours after waking up from general anesthesia each day. Ryan has had a total of eight surgeries in connection with his diagnosis, most recently enduring nine cycles of chemotherapy over the last 11 months; the final cycle wrapped up just last month!
"We are beyond thrilled to welcome Ryan, his brother, Henry and the Etten family to the St. Andrew’s School Boys Lacrosse program,” Head Coach Josh Blumenthal said. "We hope to enhance the lives of both boys, as well as those of our current team members through this unique and supportive relationship."
Ryan is a big baseball fan, having played little league in the Austin-area prior to his diagnosis. Henry, who is 7, plays basketball and swims on the Rollingwood Waves swim team. Both boys are eager to learn to play lacrosse.
The boys have some strong athletic genes in their family. Ryan and Henry’s father was captain of the rugby team at the US Naval Academy, their grandfather was the starting left tackle for Notre Dame, and great-grandfather played professional baseball for a number of Major League Baseball teams including the New York Yankees; he was a member of the 1943 World Series championship squad.
The match between Ryan and Henry and St. Andrew’s School came about from the work of Friends of Jaclyn (FOJ), a nonprofit organization based in New York. Their mission is to improve the quality of life for children battling pediatric brain tumors and other childhood cancers and to raise awareness through their Adopt-A-Child, Safe on the Sidelines, and Guardian Angel Programs.
Taking the lead on this new-found friendship are senior captains Grayson Clemmer, Ethan Rogers, Brett Schneider, and Stuart Young. The four boys serve as St. Andrew’s School ambassadors to FOJ and the Etten Family.
Both boys, along with their parents, Amy and Nick, will be officially welcomed to the team during a draft party in the coming weeks, at which time the brothers will sign official draft letters, and receive a signed team ball. Ryan and Henry have already accepted their official men's lacrosse apparel along with their own personal lacrosse sticks as they get set to cheer on their teammates.
"We look forward to including Ryan and Henry is as many activities as their schedule allows, and consider ourselves fortunate to have the entire Etten family become a part of our family," Blumenthal added.
St. Andrew’s School joins the rapidly growing list of FOJ school partners that among others include University of Cincinnati Baseball, Amherst College Field Hockey, University of New Hampshire Men’s Ice Hockey, Lake Forest College Football, and the University of Florida Softball.
To read more about Ryan’s journey please visit their family blog https://maytheforcebewithryan.com/
