‘A big smile on his face’: Team Sask. helps special-needs fan enjoy Scotties

Rylan Moir had a special day at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Moir, 17, has Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that can cause seizures and cognitive dysfunction. It makes it difficult for him and his family to go to large events.

But after Moir’s stepdad, Ryan Malley, posted a tweet, Robyn Silvernagle’s rink was able to help make Moir’s trip to the Canadian women’s curling championship a reality on Sunday.

“(He had) a huge smile, he was cheering and flapping his arms like he does when he’s super happy,” Malley said Monday. “Most of the time he was just watching the ice and had a big smile on his face throughout. He was still smiling (Monday) morning.”

Stefanie Lawton, the third on Silvernagle’s Team Saskatchewan, said the curlers were glad to help bring Moir to their game against Chelsea Carey’s Team Canada.

“That’s what this is all about. We love curling, we love this game and we want to share it with everybody and so many people,” Lawton said. “If we can do that with somebody, it’s really special for us.”

Malley says Moir is an energetic kid who loves watching all kinds of sports.

“Basically he loves seeing things go fast,” Malley said. “When he watches the Winter Olympics, we’ll watch all 14 days of it and he’ll cheer for everything that he sees on the screen — every team and every athlete. Usually by the end of the Olympics, he has cheered himself hoarse.”

Malley put out a tweet Saturday saying he’d like to bring Moir to Moose Jaw’s Mosaic Place to cheer on Silvernagle’s rink, but he had some concerns about making the trip from Regina to the Scotties.

“I was worried that, because he likes to cheer and cheer a lot and he doesn’t know when he’s not supposed to cheer, I was worried that some of the fans might get upset if he cheered during what’s supposed to be a quiet period,” Malley said.

But those fears were calmed thanks to the curling community’s outreach of support through social media.

“The response was overwhelming saying, ‘Nope, bring him out, people would love to see his spirit,’ ” Malley said.

After Team Silvernagle responded and encouraged the family to come out by supplying a pair of tickets, Malley decided to take Moir to the game against Canada.

“It was amazing. Unfortunately with Rylan’s condition, we make plans for things but sometimes a bad-timed seizure can throw all our plans off,” Malley said. “For us to actually be able to get out and go, it was an amazing experience.

“It was amazing for him. Even when he wasn’t cheering, he was just watching the ice and watching the experience.”

Malley also said a friendly usher helped provide them with a spot in the accessible seating area because Moir is in a wheelchair.

After the game, Lawton and lead Kara Thevenot met Moir and presented him with a Team Saskatchewan shirt.

“I don’t know many other sports where this sort of thing would happen from the players, for them to reach out and say, ‘Here’s tickets. Get down here and watch,’ ” Malley said.