​Beau Ryan's Terminally Ill Fan Passes Away

Last week we reported NRL cult-hero, Beau Ryan's involvement in a last minute mercy dash to fulfil the dying wish of a terminally ill cancer patient. That woman, 22 year old Kia Lettice from Narrabri in western New South Wales, passed away last night following an eight month battle with metastatic gastric ovarian cancer.

"It saddens me to announce that Kia Louise Lettice, my beautiful angel has passed, she passed peacefully in her sleep at Prince of Wales Hospital with loved ones around,' her mother Patti wrote on Facebook last night.

Ryan was alerted by a Facebook post from a friend of Kia's, women's rugby sevens star, Mahalia Murphy. The post was shared by Facebook group, The Rugby League Bible, which eventually got Ryan's attention.

After reading the post, Ryan called Kia and told her to hold on. He was dropping everything and would make the two hour journey from Shellharbour to Sydney immediately.

She had entered the "critical stage" prior to hearing's Ryan's voice on the phone, though her mother Patty said his visit gave her a "boost."

"Just her smile when she spoke to him over the phone was priceless. He was with his family but said he'd be there in two hours. And when he showed up, oh, the eyes.

"She is still a bit drowsy because of all the medication she is on. But she lit up like a Christmas tree," she said.

Prior to her passing, Kia also told of her surprise at seeing Ryan.

"I didn't expect it…I love Beau Ryan, I have loved him for ages. And then he just shows up at my hospital door," she said.

Following Ryan's visit, the Starlight Foundation granted another dying wish for Kia with a visit from a ring-tailed possum.

Speaking to radio station 2GB prior to Kia's passing on Saturday, Ryan said he was humbled that she would want to see him in her final moments.

"It's quite humbling to think that in someone's last breath they want to see you."

"I get overwhelmed thinking about it. She [Kia] was given four hours from the time I saw her and it's [been] three days now.

"She was eating pizza and they said she was never going to breathe again," he said.

Rugby league is a popular whipping boy in the mainstream media here due to the countless drug, alcohol, violence, and degeneracy indiscretions of many of its top players. For all its controversy it is also famously the working man's game and belongs to many of the nation's most rugged and flawed characters. The opportunity to do good is seldom passed up, even by the bad boys in the league, and Beau Ryan's act of charity yesterday was the kind of pure class and exemplary conduct you will struggle to find in any sport.

Raised in the often thuggish surrounds of Albion Park, on the NSW South Coast hinterland, Ryan won a grand final with St George Jersey Flegg before becoming a cult-figure at the West Tigers over the course of five seasons, 104 games, and 46 tries. He earned rep honours with the Prime Ministers XIIV in their annual clash with the Papua New Guinea Kumuls before joining the mess that were the Cronulla Sharks during the ASADA investigation. Arguably his greatest contribution to the game has been his work on Channel Nine's footy show.