For those of you who have the pleasure of knowing Ryan Chapman and Sarah Teno, you will know that they are an incredibly kind, fun-loving and exceptionally devoted couple of 12 years. In case you haven’t met them, they were recently married on Oct 25, 2025 and have resided in Atikokan since February of 2023. Sarah is one of our police officers and Ryan works at Domtar.

On July 5th, after experiencing severe headaches requiring transport to Thunder Bay for further evaluation, Ryan and Sarah were completely blindsided and devastated with the worst news imaginable. Ryan was told he had a mass in his brain, which was confirmed to be Glioblastoma on August 24th. Glioblastoma is incredibly aggressive and unfortunately has a very poor prognosis. Ryan has had many complications along the way and the tumor cannot be operated on because of where it is located in the brain. Because of these reasons, cancer treatment cannot proceed. Ryan remains at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre as he requires a higher level of care than can be provided in Atikokan, which is 200km away from home.

I, along with other family and friends, decided to create a GoFundMe on behalf of Ryan and Sarah as well as their immediate family who have travelled from southern Ontario to be with Ryan and Sarah. Sarah has been unable to work and has had to make many trips to and from Thunder Bay. There are many costs associated with Ryan’s dire situation as with so many future unknowns. I am asking our community and friends and family of Ryan and Sarah to rally because right now, they need to see just how much they are loved by all of us. The financial support and kind messages will be something that will fill their hearts and will be remembered forever. No one should have to go through what they are experiencing, especially within the first year of their new life together. Please join me in helping this phenomenal couple as they navigate this terrible illness and what lies ahead.