TOOELE — Friends, family and strangers have stepped up to the plate to make dreams come true for a former Tooele High School baseball player who three weeks ago received a terminal diagnosis for his rare form of bone cancer.
Three weeks ago, Ryan Tomac was told that after 26 rounds of chemotherapy and two surgeries, the chondroblastic osteosarcoma — a cancer that attacks cartilage and bones — found in July 2014 in his shoulder had taken over his body.
"I tried my hardest," Tomac said last week. "I told myself I don't want to know how long I've got, I just want to enjoy every minute that I've got."
With his health declining, the community jumped into action, raising almost $1,000 to send Tomac and his family to Cincinnati to see his favorite Major League Baseball team play.
"I got a hat in sixth grade, a Cincinnati Reds hat," Tomac said. "It was my first actual fitted hat."
Tomac went on to play baseball at Tooele High School, where he "tried to be a leader on the team," he said. Last week, the team retired his jersey.
"It means something special, it means you made such an impact," Tomac said.
Others have taken notice of his positive attitude in the face of adversity. At 20 years old, he was training to become a firefighter. He got a recent surprise visit from the Tooele City Fire Department, received a plaque and was made an honorary member of the department.
"It meant the world," Tomac said.
Three weeks ago the unexpected happened to this Tooele family, but a community came together to help Ryan Tomac’s wish come true.
"I'm so humbled," said Matt Tomac, Ryan Tomac's father. "We're so proud to belong to Tooele."
With donations from the community, Ryan Tomac and his family drove close to 2,000 miles and walked into the dugout at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday night. He was visibly exhausted but at home.
"This is the top of my bucket list," Tomac said. "I want to watch my favorite team play at their home stadium and enjoy some baseball."
The Reds welcomed Ryan onto their field to meet some of his favorite players, including Golden Glove winner Brandon Phillips.
He got a jersey, a signed baseball and VIP tickets. Tomac explained his love for the game.
"It's America's pastime; there's nothing like it. The pop of a glove, the sound of a good-hit ball," he said. "It's hard to explain, you just have to experience it."
And Tomac is showing everyone that when life throws a curve ball, you hit it out of the park.
“I am very, very thankful, and very happy and very at peace,” he said.
Email: spark@deseretnews.com