A cancer survivor who was diagnosed as a toddler has revealed how he underwent more than 50 operations and had to learn to walk again twice after gruelling treatment – but insists nothing will stop him from completing his ‘40 countries by 40’ challenge.
Ryann Lambert-Tuthill was just 22 months old when his parents, Nick and Wendy, noticed that his left leg was swollen.
Following investigations, he was subsequently diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
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As a result, the hospital became his second home for years, and despite being cancer-free since the age of three, he has undergone numerous gruelling procedures that have affected his mobility.
Despite the challenges and ongoing health battle, the 35-year-old is on a mission to travel to 40 countries by the time he turns 40, alongside his supportive wife Emily.
“I’ve travelled to 26 countries and territories all around the world.” Ryann, a quality control analyst from Leeds, West Yorks, told Need To Know.
“It feels amazing to be able to live life so fully after everything I’ve been through.
“I’m very fortunate that I’m in a position to be able to travel and live my life to the fullest every day.
“Emily is a massive support for me.”
The couple, who met in 2017, love travelling and are currently attempting to complete their ‘40 before 40’ challenge by visiting 40 countries before they both turn 40.
Their favourite destinations so far include Singapore, Bali and the Grand Cayman.
After his shock diagnosis in childhood, Ryann underwent chemotherapy before surgeons replaced his femur with a titanium bone.
He says he was the youngest patient at the time to have undergone the procedure.
By three, Ryann had completed his final round of chemotherapy – but his treatment was far from over.
He had to learn to walk again and underwent extensive physiotherapy to improve his mobility.
The way his bone had cemented meant he could not bend his leg properly, forcing him to adapt to walking with a straight leg.
Ryann said: “I missed a lot of school.
“My first infection was over my GCSE year, and I probably missed three to four months of school that year from the surgeries I had to have to fight it and missed my actual exams so I had to have my predicted grades.
“The operation I remember most vividly has to be the one where they moved my latissimus dorsi muscle from my back to my leg in 2014.
“This was because my second infection was so bad that they had to cut away a lot of skin – so this was another operation to save my leg.
“I think I was on the table for 10-11 hours.
“The fear of losing my leg again was very real, and the physical detriment it had on me was huge, as you can imagine.”
Reflecting on his young age of diagnosis, Ryann said: “In a way, I feel like cancer shaped who I am because of how young I was
“Life would have been very different had I not had it, I’m sure.
“But you also make your own luck in life, and again, I think it comes down to how you make your life.
“At a younger age, I could have had a completely different attitude and felt really sorry for myself and played the victim card, but you just have to make as much of your life as you can with the cards you’ve been dealt.
“And as a young kid, I just got on with life, which has built my foundations for my attitude now and living life to the fullest.”
And 12 years ago, Ryann underwent another major operation that gave him greater mobility.
The procedure gave him greater mobility and allowed him to bend his leg slightly, but once again he had to learn how to walk.
Ryann said: “I can’t remember the first time because I was only two years old.
“The second time wasn’t a full learn to walk again; it was more an adaptation with my leg now bending.
“And to be honest, I just got on with it. I’ve been through so much that any hurdle now is very much ‘oh well, let’s crack on and get back to normal as soon as I can’.
“I learned through a lot of physio, grit and determination.”
Today, Ryann still lives with mobility problems and uses a crutch because of a dropped foot and long-lasting nerve damage.
He said: “The biggest side effect of my treatment and the numerous operations has always been my mobility.
“I walk with a limp, and I have a dropped foot.
“I actually think the dropped foot is the biggest issue now because it means I trip up quite a lot, which is frustrating at times.
“But I’m used to it, so it doesn’t get me down as much as it used to do.”
“As I have got older, I have had to adapt my life and accept that I’m not able to do certain things due to my mobility.
“I have always walked with a limp, but that’s just the ordinary for me.
“It has been tough, but I’ve not known anything different throughout my life, and my current health is great. I don’t really see the negatives of the side effects.
“I try to look at the positives in life and live life to the full.”
He has also suffered three major infections since 2008 and worries about the possibility of eventually losing his leg.
Ryann said: “In 2014, I would have said the thought of losing my leg was absolutely frightening, but I made peace with it when I was in hospital over that time period.
“Now, it would be really tough to adapt and, don’t get me wrong, it is my biggest fear, but I’m that kind of guy that would just get on with it and deal with it.
“There’s so much technology nowadays that probably not a lot would change in the long term; it would just be difficult to adapt in the short term.
“I don’t like to dwell.
“You have to live the life that you have been given and to be honest, I’m leading a pretty good life that I’ve made for myself.
“There is no point in dwelling on what could have been.
“Live your life that you have been dealt and make the absolute most of it.”
Ryann now shares his experience on Instagram through his page @thereislifeaftercancer, where he aims to help others and, most importantly, promote life after cancer – as well as raise awareness and funds for Cancer Research UK.
He’s planning on completing the London Marathon next year, fundraising for Bone Cancer Research Trust.
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