Rally For Rhyan - How It Began
1/31/2020 3:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
It was the fall of 2015 and Rhyan Loos, daughter of Mizzou Assistant AD Brad Loos, was a typical 5-year old little girl getting ready to start kindergarten. Rhyan is the middle child and has always been a very independent, outgoing child that welcomes a new adventure head on. The first few weeks of kindergarten went as we expected, with no hiccups. But then Rhyan started having very bad separation anxiety in the mornings. She hated school and didn't want to go. During this time, her attitude started suffering as well. When she got home from school, she was immediately on the couch taking a nap or complaining of a headache. As her parents, we wracked our brains trying to figure out what was going on with our daughter. We even visited a child psychologist and everyone kept attributing the changes we were seeing to the huge adjustment of starting "real school." Throughout the attitude changes, Rhyan also started limping. It would come as fast as it would go and when we asked if her leg hurt, she always answered NO. So we kept it in the back of our minds and attributed it to growing pains. After a few weeks of things not getting any better, we took her to our pediatrician and asked for an x-ray of her leg. X-rays were taken and we were instructed to go straight to urgent care should she get a fever. That night, she spiked a fever and we went to urgent care where she was poked for a blood draw for the very first time. We were given an initial diagnosis of juvenile arthritis and an appointment was made the very next day with the specialist. After our appointment, Rhyan was admitted to the hospital to make sure the "arthritis" was not septic. While in the hospital, they continued to run various tests and after a few days, we were pulled out into the hallway and were told that Rhyan had leukemia.
The Mizzou Men's Basketball Rally for Rhyan game began in 2016 to raise money for pediatric cancer research when Rhyan was originally diagnosed. All donations made the Rally for Rhyan Fund are donated directly to pediatric cancer research. Every donation made, no matter how big or small, makes a huge difference. Donations can be made online at RallyForRhyan.org or by texting R4R to 90561 from your mobile phone.
Every year since 2016, Mizzou has hosted the Rally for Rhyan game and in that time, Rhyan Loos' inspiration has been an inspiration to the college basketball and Mid-Missouri communities. Mizzou has raised more than $500,000 for pediatric cancer research over the last four years. In addition, capacity crowds have flooded Mizzou Arena to show their support of Rhyan, and in return the Tigers have a perfect 4-0 in R4R games. Half of the $500,000 raised has come from the four Rally For Rhyan games. Every dollar raised by the R4R foundation specifically goes to clinical trials that support pediatric cancer research. A previous trial which was made possible from organizations like Rally For Rhyan made it possible for Rhyan to go through the trial, which of course has been a big success and why Rhyan is still with us today.This year's game will be against Arkansas on Feb. 8 at Mizzou Arena.
With the spirit of Mizzou nation behind her, Rhyan defeated cancer and has been cancer-free for 38 months. She makes trips to New York every three months for screenings. While Rhyan has defeated the disease, many of the friends she has made, and many other children around the country, are still suffering from pediatric cancer. The fight is not over. Children around the country still need our help. Below are some key statistics on pediatric cancer.
- Childhood cancer research is vastly and consistently underfunded. Only 5% of cancer research dollars go towards pediatric cancer.
- Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15 in the U.S.
- One in 285 children in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer by the time they are 20 years old.
- Every year, an estimated 250,000+ new cases of cancer affect children under the age of 20 worldwide.
- Two-thirds of childhood cancer patients will have long lasting chronic conditions from treatment.
- Childhood cancer occurs regularly, randomly and spares no ethnic group; socioeconomic class; or geographic region. In the United States, the incidence of cancer among adolescents and young adults is increasing at a greater rate than any other age group, except those over 65 years.
- Childhood cancer is not just one disease. It is made up of a dozen types and countless subtypes.
- To learn more about childhood cancer please visit: https://www.alexslemonade.org/childhood-cancer-facts-numbers
