Sophie Ryan's Journey
Learn first hand about Sophie's incredible, over-decade-long journey with cancer — from age 8½ months old to now.
Sophie Isabella Ryan was born on October 3rd, 2012, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs 7.4 oz. She was the picture of health, and everything her parents Tracy and Josh could have ever dreamt of. But when Sophie's left eye began shaking at only 8½ months old, a series of doctor's appointments led to an MRI that uncovered the unthinkable.
On June 23rd, 2013, Sophie was diagnosed with a low-grade brain tumor called an Optic Pathway Glioma — a cancer that luckily has a 90% survival rate, but unluckily has an over 85% recurrence rate. Even worse, the only option for these tumors was chemotherapy, with few advancements made over the last forty years for kids stricken by any form of cancer. In fact, only 8% — up from 3.9% — of all government funding goes to pediatric cancer research.
After first dismissing cannabis as an option due to the stigma around the plant, the Ryans took a second look when celebrity talk show host and movie star Ricki Lake and her documentary film partner Abby Epstein reached out through social media. They told the Ryans about a film they were producing about kids using cannabis for cancer — now on Netflix as Weed the People — and the Ryans' lives forever changed. They went on to launch a medical cannabis tincture company called CannaKids, which operated for eight years in California, serving patients of all ages and consulting thousands more around the world alongside highly qualified nurses who provided dosing and guidance.
When Tracy first met Dr. Anahid Jewett — the world's leading cancer research scientist in the field of Natural Killer Cells — Sophie was six years old and still battling her relentless tumor. By that point, she had failed eight treatment protocols, each lasting 10 to 13 months unless they failed sooner, endured four brain surgeries, and undergone eleven surgeries in total. It was Tracy's desperation to find a cure for her daughter that brought them together. When Sophie required her fifth brain surgery to debulk her tumor, the Ryans saw an opportunity to get her live tissue into mice for a personalized study, and Dr. Jewett immediately offered to help. But it was when she learned Sophie had been taking medical cannabis since nine months old — and saw her unexplainable healing — that she became even more determined to dig deeper.
When Dr. Jewett tested Sophie's Natural Killer Cells, she discovered her immune function was operating at impossibly high levels — especially considering she was on four different chemotherapies at the time. She asked Tracy to bring her more patients, and 29 cancer patients ranging from children to seniors were enrolled. The findings were groundbreaking, revealing a direct link between Dr. Jewett's field of study and Tracy's passion for using cannabis as medicine.
Since that first encounter, Tracy has continued building companies and partnerships dedicated to one mission: finding a cure for Sophie and patients like her. Working closely with Dr. Jewett, she has helped advance non-toxic therapeutics — including Dr. Jewett's Supercharged Natural Killer Cell therapy — so that families facing this diagnosis might one day have real answers, real hope, and real options.
After seven years of stability, Sophie's tumor has returned. The fight has begun again, and so has the relentless search for her ultimate cure. This is her story — and ours — and we invite you to walk it with us.
