Ryan Kennedy, 9-Year-Old Dying From Brain Cancer, Gets Help From Celebs To Trend On Twitter

Nine-year-old Ryan Kennedy’s days are numbered, but his supporters, including such A-listers as Britney Spears and Kim Kardashian, are making sure that his fight to survive lives on.

Since 2007, Ryan has endured seven surgeries, two rounds of radiation and four different kinds of chemo in his battle against ependymoma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer, the Oakland Press reports. But after braving years of exhausting and painful treatments, the fourth grader recently told his mom that he has had enough.

While Ryan lives out his final days in hospice, his supporters across the globe have banded together on Twitter in a race to make #RyanKennedy trend worldwide. The hashtag has spread as far as Australia and made it to the handles of major celebrities.

“Awww everything y'all are saying is so sweet!” Britney Spears tweeted to her 16 million-plus followers. “Keep on tweeting #ryankennedy - I'm gonna follow a few fans who tweet it :)”

Though Ryan doesn’t even have a Twitter account, the movement to spread his story, and raise awareness for this vicious disease during National Brain Cancer Awareness Month, has touched his heart.

“I showed him the Britney Spears tweet, and he did start crying, and he said, ‘You know, Mommy, this really touches my heart, that so many people are out there Tweeting, and caring about me,’ ” Ryan's mom told the Oakland Press.

Click through the slideshow to see how Twitter users are rallying around #RyanKennedy.

SLIDESHOW:

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• Britney Spears

• Kim Kardashian

• Shannen Doherty

• Adam Lambert

• Alyssa Milano

• NBPA

• Official CANCER

• MACI K. SMOOT

• SháyVanilla.

• chrisgessner

To help make a difference in the lives of those suffering from Ryan's condition, consider getting involved with the Collaborative Ependymoma Research Network.

Click through the slideshow below to see photos of Ryan throughout his battle against brain cancer.

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• Ryan Kennedy

• Ryan Kennedy

• Ryan Kennedy

• Ryan Kennedy

• Ryan Kennedy

• Ryan Kennedy

Comments

[Michael Ries]

02:01 PM on 05/27/2012

Ryan passed away yesterday...He made it past his birthday which was the 25th...my prayers go to his family.

[CERN Foundation]

04:08 PM on 05/18/2012

Our hearts go out to Ryan Kennedy and his family. We at the CERN Foundation are dedicated to developing new treatments for ependymoma and ultimately finding a cure. Learn more at www.cern-foundation.org

[libwithaclue]

06:27 AM on 05/16/2012

Soar to heaven on the wings of angels, little boy.

[fernando4u]

06:14 PM on 05/15/2012

I friend´s uncle cured from a brain tumor with the following product:
http://www.cytorex.com/english/
I wish someone could make this information known to his family before it´s to late.

[White Diamond]

09:39 PM on 05/11/2012

What a brave and sweet young boy.

[olitenup]

07:11 PM on 05/11/2012

Oh dear. Blessings to his family during this very tough time.

[calipally]

06:42 PM on 05/11/2012

My heart goes out to this little boy. Instead of just tweeting, why don't they donate some big bucks to St. Jude that could help the next kid!

[Squiriferous]

05:24 PM on 05/11/2012

Poor kid. Good to see that Britney Spears and Kim Kardashian aren't 100% trashy.

[Andrea Kelly]

03:57 PM on 05/11/2012

An Irish toast to this young lad who has suffered enough. Rest and be comfortable and strength too all those surrounding you. Andrea

[vigilantemind]

03:45 PM on 05/11/2012

This obsession of "trending topics" and Facebook shares reminds me of the greenwashing problems we had last decade, when environmentalism took several steps back because it became so popular to just TALK about the earth that people stopped trying to help the Earth and started putting on huge concerts and rallies that caused massive environmental damage instead.

This whole idea that tweeting or posting on Facebook makes any difference isn't just wrong, I suspect it's actually counterproductive.

[studioh!]

03:35 PM on 05/11/2012

was terry schiavo a "trending topic"?

[Squiriferous]

05:25 PM on 05/11/2012

No, Terry Shiavo was a VEGETABLE. LOL.

[speelingmistake]

12:41 PM on 05/11/2012

right... having done a bit of research I have found out that Ryan did NOT wish to be a twitter trend. He didn't know what twitter was until all this started and it has had to be explained to him. http://www.themorningsun.com/article/20120509/SPORTS/120509609/out-of-tragedy-a-trend-of-triumph-story-of-clarkston-s-ryan-kennedy-brings-world-wide-attention-to-brain-cancer&pager=full_story
Also the oddly eloquent quote from Ryan has become odder as that article says he is sleeping most of the time and their carepages entry says 'He is having a tough time communicating with us as the tumors are causing him speech issues' - I think the mum might have just been saying what she wishes her son could say rather than words he has actually said - which is fair enough. Shes his mom and he's 9 - she has the right to speak for him.
What is odd is that every mainstream article is giving the impression that Ryan actively wants to trend on twitter and is aware of the campaign. I think this story is being used by huffpost (and even more blatantly radaronline) to promote themselves through RTs. That makes me VERY uncomfortable.

[vigilantemind]

03:42 PM on 05/11/2012

I was immediately skeptical when they said a nine-year old said "this really touches my heart." That's just not a phrase nine-year olds use.

[speelingmistake]

10:46 AM on 05/11/2012

I have questions about this.
1. How did this begin? How did Britney Spears etc hear that a kid wanted to trend on twitter?
2. Why does he want to trend on twitter seeing as how he doesn't have an account?
Is there any 'awareness raising' meaning? Cos I'v not seen anything like that in the press or tweets about this.
3. What kind of 9 year old uses phrases like 'this really touches my heart, that so many people are out there Tweeting, and caring about me'? I'v got a little brother and if he had said that when he was 9 I would have asked if he was quoting something. Is this kid *whisper it* maybe being manipulated for publicity?

[Shannon C92]

02:25 PM on 05/11/2012

Here are some answers to your questions...
1. The Oakland University baseball team was initially the people who wanted to trend him on twitter/raise awareness for him. Oakland University's athletic teams are affiliated with "Friends of Jaclyn Foundation" and "adopts" a child each year. So, along with the baseball team, the softball team as well as some other athletes started tweeting #ryankennedy and sending tweets to celebrities to help get his name trending and spread the word, seeing as how we couldn't do it alone.

There is a much better story (sorry Huffington Post) about Ryan and it includes the relationship with the OU Baseball team as well as a lot more background story-- it's a great story: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2012/05/10/news/local_news/doc4faaf2149a704946474951.prt

[Shannon C92]

02:30 PM on 05/11/2012

Here are some answers to your questions
1. The Oakland University's Baseball team were initially the people who wanted to trend Ryan's name/raise awareness for Ryan. Oakland University's athletic teams are affiliated with Friend of Jaclyn Foundation and "adopts" a child to their team.
The baseball team initiated the trend, which passed on to the softball team as well as other student athletes who then started tweeting to celebrities and local public figures around the Detroit Metro area to help spread the word, seeing as how we wouldn't have been able to do it alone.
There is a MUCH (sorry Huff Post) better story that explains Ryan's situation in better detail as well as his relationship with the baseball team at Oakland Press: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2012/05/10/news/local_news/doc4faaf2149a704946474951.prt

I would suggest reading this version of the story over any others.

[catherinegrinyer]

04:05 AM on 05/11/2012

My thoughts are with Ryan and his family.