Teenager's legacy lives on in UofI research grant
BY JOSEPH BUSTOS
SVN REPORTER
jbustos@svnmail.com
STERLING - Zane Ryan, the popular Sterling High School senior who died in March after touching the lives of so many classmates, now will touch a few more lives.
Zane died unexpectedly of acute bronchopneumonia. In the two months after his death, the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation received 33 donations, totaling roughly $4,700, as memorials to the boy known as "Mr. Social."
The foundation added $6,000 more, then awarded a one-time, $10,700 Zane Ryan grant to the University of Illinois in Chicago, which will use it to help pay for a pilot program to research physical fitness in children with mobility disabilities.
"I was amazed and humbled," said Chris Ryan, Zane's mom. "I was thrilled that that many people cared about Zane and took time to donate to something he believed in."
In the pilot program, researchers will see if interactive video games such as EyeToy and Dance Dance Revolution can improve fitness in children with disabilities such as spinal cord injuries or spina bifida. They will modify the game controllers so the kids can use their upper extremities to play the games.
Why the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation?
Zane always was a fan of the comic book hero Superman. "I think what he found so inspirational was he thought (Superman's) powers were different, and he was someone everyone could look up to," his mom said.
Later, Zane became a fan of the actor who played Superman in the movies. "I think he knew every fact of Christopher Reeve and Superman," Ryan said. "(Reeve) was a such a neat role model and neat guy. He was totally taken by that image."
After Zane's death, friends wore T-shirts emblazoned with the Superman logo, with a "Z" in place of the usual "S," and at their graduation ceremony in May, they released Superman balloons.
Reach Joseph Bustos at (815) 625-3600 or (800) 798-4085, ext. 529.
