'Real Courage'
Facing Cancer, Local Boy Bringing ‘Alex’s Lemonade Stand’ BackBy Kristen Johnson
Article Photos
Ryan Malarkey looks and acts like any other 6-year-old boy.
He's got a headful of blond hair that's usually sticking up in a couple spots and an ear-to-ear, gap-toothed grin that lights up his entire face. He loves Slushies - but mix the colors, if you please; it makes your tongue look cool when you're done.
On a recent trip to New York City for a round of tests, he delighted in filling his shirt with sand at a playground in Central Park. He comes up with creative excuses to avoid going to school - concern over paper cuts and girls hugging him, for example. He spends time pondering the questions only a six-year-old can dream up: ''Do you think God burps?''
But there's one thing that makes Ryan different.
''I've got cancer,'' he said shyly, trying his hardest to speak around a mouthful of the purple-and-blue Slushie he was drinking. ''And we're going to sell lemonade because I need money for cancer research.''.
'WHEN THE OUTCOME IS UNCERTAIN'
On March 6, 2006, Ryan was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer known as ''the great masquerader'' because its symptoms mimic those of other diseases. According to the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation, nearly 70 percent of children diagnosed with the disease are only diagnosed after it has metastasized.
That was the case with Ryan. By the time doctors were able to correctly diagnose the disease, it had spread through his body. Doctors found a tumor near Ryan's kidney and discovered that the cancer had spread to his bones and lymph nodes.
After eight months of treatment that included five rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, two stem cell transplants and site-specific radiation, Ryan achieved ''no evidence of disease'' status in December. Earlier this month, scans showed he is still in remission.
''He has been in remission for two-and-a-half years,'' said Ryan's mother, Kim Malarkey. ''He's a regular kid who enjoys life, like kids do. But children diagnosed before the age of five - like Ryan - have only a 30 percent chance of growing up. That's just not acceptable to me. It's why we need to keep plugging away with cancer research.''
Giving up doesn't seem to be in Ryan's vocabulary - and fortune seems to agree. In April, Ryan and his cousins went out for dinner at a Chinese buffet. At the end of the meal, the kids were eager to open their fortune cookies.
Ryan's cookie contained a very appropriate saying - ''Real courage is moving forward when the outcome is uncertain.''
THE LEMONADE STAND
In 2007, the Malarkeys set up an Alex's Lemonade Stand - a front-yard lemonade stand begun in 2000 by Alex Scott, a 4-year-old with cancer, that has since evolved into a national foundation for pediatric cancer research - at Foote Avenue Quality Markets. Store manager Steve Peroski heard of the effort the Malarkeys were making to support pediatric cancer research and began selling paper lemons at the store to support the lemonade stand. That year, they raised about $3,000.
But that wasn't enough, as far as Peroski was concerned.
''I made one phone call - just one - and suddenly, the entire Penn Traffic corporation was behind the idea,'' Peroski said.
The next year, 97 grocery stores that included Quality Markets, BiLo and P&C, were all selling paper lemons. They raised more than $52,600.
''It's important,'' Peroski said when asked why he made that phone call. ''Children are our future and when you're talking about something as horrible as cancer, you've just got to get involved.''
Peroski said he has been ''amazed'' by the generosity of the Jamestown community.
''I've seen people give $5 or even $10 for a single glass of lemonade,'' he said. ''The community has been behind this effort right from the get-go. Nobody turns down buying a paper lemon and people come out by the hundreds to buy lemonade. They know what the money goes toward.''
Ryan is well aware of the importance of the lemonade stand and of Penn Traffic's efforts to help raise money.
''We need money to stop cancer for kids,'' he said. ''I have a lot of friends who have cancer. I always pray for them.''
'WE CAN'T GIVE UP'
This year, Penn Traffic will again sell paper lemons to ''put the squeeze on childhood cancer.'' They'll be on sale for $1 between today and July 12. And on July 3, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Ryan will be selling lemonade outside the Foote Avenue Quality Markets at ''Ryan and Alex's Lemonade Stand.'' Lemonade can be purchased for a donation of any amount.
Donations can also be made online at www.firstgiving.com/ryanmalarkey. Checks can also be made out to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and mailed to Kim Malarkey, 188 West Virginia Blvd., Jamestown, NY 14701.
''The community has been so supportive over the years,'' Mrs. Malarkey said. ''It just gives you this amazing feeling to be standing at the lemonade stand and watch a constant stream of people come up to buy a glass of lemonade. Research has saved Ryan's life, but 2,300 kids die of cancer every year. We have to keep doing our best to raise the money and support the research that will save them. We can't give up.''
