How Islanders helped superfan, 18, beat near-fatal rare cancer: Treated me like family

He put cancer on ice. A young, devout Islanders fan who went through a near-death medical nightmare that cost him his left lung and put him in a coma had the biggest power play of his life this month — celebrating a full year cancer-free with his favorite hockey team in his corner.“I definitely don’t take anything for granted,” 18-year-old Tommy Ryan told The Post. “I try to live every day to the full, and I’m just happy,” added Ryan, who the Islanders have been treating like family for months and featured him in a team docuseries for his resilience.He joyfully returned to UBS Arena Thursday night as a regular fan with his girlfriend of three years, Emily, to watch the Isles beat 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 rare B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia as a junior in high school when the talented football and lacrosse player suddenly struggled with routine training for his spring sport in 2025.“It was a strain called Philadelphia positive, which is a newer, aggressive type of leukemia,” he said.Ryan began chemo treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering when he contracted another extremely rare “black” fungal infection called mucormycosis while immunocompromised. “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 knew there was a frighteningly high probability he wouldn’t survive the procedure and disguised what could have been their final goodbyes as pre-operation well wishes.  During an extensive 150 days in the hospital, 130 of which Ryan spent in the pediatric ICU, he used his beloved Isles as a saving grace to keep morale up — especially after watching them draft Matthew S...