So what is Project Referral? – And who founded it and why? Both are very good questions.
Today I am going to share with you who founded the Remission Project and what it was really about. The story may be a little different from what you’ve heard.
It all started with four-time cancer survivor Ryan Hamner. Ryan was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 5 and battled the disease until he was 21. He ended up with a stem cell transplant in 1997 that put his cancer in remission for good!
However, it wasn’t until years later that Hamner learned that the cancer was gone for good. The reason is because he had never gone 6 years without having a recurrence of the disease.
Today Hamner lives a totally cancer-free life, and although he has had some residual effects of treatment, he is very healthy. He works out 4-5 times a week, is a black belt in Aiki jiu-jitsu, and is the founder of 2survive; an online community for people affected by cancer. This is an organization for cancer survivors, obviously, but also for friends, family, and medical staff.
One of Ryan’s favorite hobbies is music. He has been playing and writing music since he was 13 years old. In 2007, Hamner’s career got off to a good start after she landed her first commercial record deal from him. After that, Hamner was lucky enough to open for bands like Hot Chelle Rae, Thriving Ivory, and others.
In 2010, Ryan decided he wanted to do something that would impact people’s lives a little more than playing bars etc. So Ryan teamed up with a video game for kids with cancer and created the “Hear the Heart” tour.
The “Hear the Heart” tour would be instrumental in Ryan finally designing and founding Project Remission. During this tour, Hamner performed in hospitals, clinics, Hope Lodges, children’s camps, and just about anywhere that would welcome him. His message was simple. Her message from him was hope!
Returning home from tour in the summer of 2010, Hamner was inspired to take things to the next level. He sat down and first wrote the song, “Remission” (The Survivor’s Anthem!) and then founded the Remission Project.
The project gained the interest of several different local hospitals and organizations, but in the end it didn’t go exactly the way Ryan wanted it to.
So what was the project anyway? Well, the project was simple. The intention was to do nothing more than bring people affected by cancer together in a community online and through Ryan’s music.
Today, Ryan operates 2survive, an online community and website that does just that. 2survive sends care packages to children with cancer, connects cancer survivors with other survivors, offers health information from doctors, survivor stories and more. 2survive has become Ryan’s new referral project. If you have time, please take a look.
