Fundraiser to benefit Oak Park boy
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com

WAITING- Ryan Roschke, left, who is awaiting a kidney transplant, is shown with his mother Andrea, dad Mark and brother Jason on a recent visit to Palm Springs. A Comedy Sportz fundraiser Friday night at Oak Park High School will benefit Ryan and other transplant recipients.

Ryan Roschke, an Oak Park 17-year-old, needs a new kidney and his friends at Oak Park High School want to make sure he gets one.

The school's Comedy Sportz team, of which Ryan is a member, will perform at 7:15 p.m. on Fri., Jan. 26, as a benefit for him and others awaiting organ transplants. Proceeds from the evening will go to Transplant Recipients International Organization (TRIO), a nonprofit that provides support to patients waiting for transplants, including Ryan.

"His friends are a great group of kids, very supportive," said Ryan's mom, Andrea Roschke.

Comedy Sportz is a national program in which student team members compete against each other in different improvisational games, with a referee and audience participation.

Ryan became ill in Aug., 2005 and underwent chemotherapy treatments for four months during which time he became weak and sick, according to Andrea Roschke. He was diagnosed with Wegener's Granulomatosis, a rare autoimmune disorder in which inflammation of blood vessels limits blood flow to organs, damaging and destroying them. Its cause is unknown. Various treatments can put the disease in remission.

Ryan went into remission in October but not before his kidneys shut down. He requires dialysis 10 hours daily while he waits for a new kidney.

"He was never sick a day in his life until then," Andrea Roschke said. "His life was completely turned upside down."

There is a five- to six-year wait for a new kidney that matches Ryan's blood type. A cadaver donor's kidney will last 10 years. Life expectancy for a live donor's kidney is 30 years. Either way, Ryan will require another transplant at some point in this life, Andrea Roschke said.

Last week Ryan's brother, Jason, 19, a student at California State University at Northridge, was found to be a match. The brothers are undergoing additional testing. If all goes well, the operation would take place over the summer.

"Jason insisted on being tested. He's a wonderful brother," the mother said. "I'm tormented by the thought of both of them being in the operating room."

Although Ryan has not been a full-time student at Oak Park since he was diagnosed, he does participate in the school's choir program and takes an art class as part of an independent study program. He has been active in the school's drama program and hopes to be onstage as part of the Comedy Sportz team.

Most of Ryan's medical bills have been covered by insurance, Andrea Roschke said, so when Comedy Sportz Captain Ryan Schwartz approached the family about doing a benefit the Roschke's asked that proceeds go to TRIO.

"Ryan Schwartz and Ryan Roschke have been friends since they were little," said Bridget Karl, a member of the Oak Park Performing Arts Alliance, host of the event along with the Comedy Sportz students. "This is the first time Comedy Sportz has done a fundraiser. It's a great idea."

Suggested donation is $10 per person, or regular admission of $3 for students and $5 for adults. Dessert will be served. For information call Oak Park High at (818) 706-3300.