‘Ryder’s Fight Club’ a way of life for Huntington Beach boy with rare brain cancer
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Ryder Yaccarino loves people unconditionally.
The 7-year-old asks visitors to his southeast Huntington Beach home if they want to see his toys, or the bedroom he shares with his fraternal twin brother, Indy.
This also means that sometimes he will come up to strangers and give them a hug, or pat them on the behind.
“He’ll go up to people and be a little overly friendly,” said his mother, Tara Jaggard Yaccarino. “If he loves you, he loves you hard.”
That word, “hard,” is also an apt description of how the last nearly four years have been for the resilient family.
As the world was reopening from the coronavirus pandemic, the Yaccarinos faced a different challenge — Ryder was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer on his fourth birthday, in June 2022.
He has a diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumor (DLGNT), which is challenging to treat.
“He’ll always have an active tumor,” Tara said. “The reason why is that his tumor is solid. It’s like a sugar coating, almost like toothpaste-like, all over his spine and his brain.”
Tara had gotten pregnant and had twins without complications in her early 40s. Then, life got much more complicated for the family.
And yet, nearly four years later, Ryder is thriving, with care from Children’s Hospital of Orange County. His latest scans, taken earlier this month, show him in stable condition. Tara rejoiced in sharing the news on social media.
Ryder continues to be on active chemotherapy, taking a targeted pill, and the tumor still shows slow growth. His balance and dexterity are a bit off.
But the family chooses to focus on the positive. Ryder is growing, too, becoming more curious and outgoing with each passing day.
“We’re just trying to do the best that we can to create the most comfort,” Tara said. “We just have to survive, right?”
Ryder and Indy are both first graders at Eader Elementary School. Ryder is in a combination first grade and special needs class, and he has a one-on-one aide.
“His quality of life is 1,000 times better than what it was,” said Ritchie Yaccarino, Tara’s husband and Ryder’s dad. “Everything is about his quality of life.”
Early on, the family created a term — “Ryder’s Fight Club” — for supporters of the young boy. The logo features a yellow ribbon and a rainbow.
Ritchie and Tara Yaccarino both grew up in Huntington Beach, graduating from Edison High in 1993 and ‘94, respectively. Not all of their friends wanted to take up Ryder’s fight.
“When something like this happens, it’s crazy how many friends disappear, friends that you’ve had your whole life,” Tara said. “It’s not because they don’t [care], it’s because they just can’t handle the severity of it, the weight of it … I’m not upset, I understand. It’s way too heavy of a burden.”
But the family has seen others step up. Michael Sperling owns She Rocks Fitness, a gym not far from the Yaccarinos’ home. Tara had not gone to the gym for years prior to Ryder’s diagnosis, but when Sperling heard the news, he leaped into action.
First there was a pickleball tournament, with proceeds going to Ryder‘s care. More fundraisers, like fitness challenges and 50-50 raffles, have followed.
“I want to do it, because I’m in the position to do it,” Sperling said. “We’re a family … [Tara] is such an awesome person. She is one of the angels in this world, incredible, to be as positive as she is. She is so uplifting, and I think a lot of people gravitate toward that. If they hear her story, there are still good people out there in the world, you know. There are still people that still care about other people, which is nice.”
There are many other dedicated members of Ryder’s Fight Club. Ritchie’s ex-wife, Diana Good, organized an online GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $65,000. Another man in the community, Dave Garcia, holds a golf tournament each fall that nets thousands of dollars for the family.
Tara said that the team at Huntington Beach’s Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, where the boys went to preschool, has been a big support.
The family has also linked with the McKenna Claire Foundation, which raises money for researchers working to find cures for pediatric brain cancer. Sean Wiggins, Tara’s brother-in-law, helped make the connection with Dave and Kristine Wetzel, foundation co-founders and Edison graduates themselves.
The Wetzels lost their daughter, McKenna, at age 7 in 2011, after she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.
Wiggins — who is married to Tara’s older sister, Kelley, and also lives in Huntington Beach — appreciates Ryder’s strong personality.
“We’ll be at my daughter’s soccer game, and he’ll jump on a parent’s lap who he’s never met before,” he said. “Everybody’s good with it. He’s definitely got a strong personality, which is great for someone going through that.
“He’s full of life, and he pushes the envelope and sees what he can get away with. But that’s part of being a kid too. He probably gets away with more, because of his condition, but that’s better than sitting there being meek or whatever.”
A few months after Ryder’s diagnosis, the Yaccarinos decided to put him on a full cannabis panel. Once scrawny, he now has a good appetite, though Tara also has him on a keto-heavy diet.
“He actually will crave healthy foods over bad foods,” Tara said. “We certainly don’t deny him if he asks, but he loves vegetables. He’ll do a lettuce-wrapped burger. He loves that stuff, so I’m like, ‘Why not?’”
Indy, Ryder’s twin brother, is not lost in the shuffle, though he has perhaps lost some of his childhood as the family deals with Ryder’s condition.
Their bedroom has a pair of twin beds, but Ryder will typically sleep in a bed in his parents’ room. And though Ryder’s seizures, which can include vomiting, are much less common than they used to be, Indy knows exactly what to do should one occur.
“He’ll run and get towels and stuff,” Ritchie said. “He knows what’s up. I mean, is it cool that he has to do that? No. Should he just be worrying about playing and tomorrow and stuff like that? Yeah. But, he’s a good brother.”
Indy will often watch over Ryder at school as well. Tara is amazed that sometimes Indy tells her and Ritchie to ease up on Ryder, reminding them that he’s going through a tough battle.
“It’s really good,” Indy said, when asked about his relationship with his twin brother. “We love each other, and our favorite thing to do is art.”
Indeed, artwork adorns the walls of the Yaccarinos’ home. Still, Indy has started playing baseball, on the Seaview Little League Minor C Angels.
“Thankfully, [Ryder] is into arts and crafts and we haven’t had him say that he really wants to play,” said Tara, who understands the challenges that come with the blessings.
“He has literally shown me so much of what I didn’t think was possible. You can do hard things,” she continued. “Ritchie and I have seen such growth, so we have a little bit more hope.”
Now, Ryder is curious and outgoing. He has plenty of children to play with, starting with those who live next door.
“Our neighbors are godsends, because they love RyRy and Indy, and they have four boys,” Ritchie said. “It’s like Disneyland, always. They always have someone to play with.”
Ryder loves people unconditionally. And he has many who love him back.
“Speaking his story is so powerful,” Tara said. “You kind of think your son is terminal, and you hope that his story isn’t in vain. You hope that his story hits somebody. The biggest compliment we can always get is if someone is speaking his story of triumph and resilience.
“He is literally thriving.”
