CLEVELAND, Ohio – This weekend, two brave 6-year-old girls from Northeast Ohio will be riding bikes not just for fun, but to help save lives.
Hannah and Lyla, both survivors of the rare childhood cancer retinoblastoma, will participate in the VeloSano Trike & Bike ride, a Cleveland Clinic event that raises funds for pediatric cancer research.
Now healthy and cancer-free, the girls will ride together as part of Team Eye Fight to Win, showing the world that survivorship can come with strength, hope, and purpose.
Diagnosed Before Their First Birthdays
Hannah was just a year old when her mother, Meggen Ratino, noticed something strange — her daughter’s eye was “glowing.” That glow turned out to be a telltale sign of genetic bilateral retinoblastoma, meaning she had tumors in both eyes.
Surgeons at Cleveland Clinic’s Cole Eye Institute had to remove Hannah’s left eye after the tumor severed the optic nerve, but aggressive treatment saved her right one.
“She is proud to be Hannah with the magic eye,” Meggen told FOX 8. “The kids rallying around her don’t see her any differently.”
Lyla’s journey began even earlier. Her mom, Jenna Bunofsky, noticed a similar glow in her daughter’s eye at only 10 weeks old. Within a day, Lyla was diagnosed with non-genetic unilateral retinoblastoma — a tumor covering 80% of her right eye.
“She never saw out of that eye, so she doesn’t know any different,” Jenna said. By eight months old, Lyla had endured six rounds of chemotherapy.
From Diagnosis to Determination
Today, both girls are thriving. They swim, play softball, do gymnastics, and live life to the fullest — all while carrying the courage of survivors.
Their team ride in VeloSano Trike & Bike is more than symbolic. It raises critical funds to support other children battling pediatric cancers through research conducted at Cleveland Clinic Children’s.
You can learn more about their team or make a donation by visiting Team Eye Fight to Win.
Know a child who’s fought a medical battle and inspired your community? Share their story with us or follow more uplifting local news at ChicagoSuburbanFamily.com.
