GROVELAND After all he has been through, no one could question Ryan Reardon's courage.

When the 8-year-old cancer patient from Groveland visited New York City, the heart of Yankees territory, he didn't hesitate to wear both his Red Sox cap and T-shirt.

That caught the eye of David Cook, the most recent winner of Ryan's favorite reality TV show, "American Idol."

"You've got guts to be wearing that around here," said Cook, when he spotted Ryan in the crowd two weeks ago.

Cook sent invitations to children being treated for neuroblastoma at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to come meet him on the "Early Show," a popular morning TV show. Ryan happened to be going to New York that morning for his cancer treatment, so he accepted the invitation.

It's no surprise that Cook invited the young cancer victims to join him. His brother, 36-year-old Aaron Cook, has brain cancer that has spread to his spine. Cook shows his support for his brother by wearing his initials AC on his clothing or guitar when performing on stage. David Cook is dedicated to helping find a cure for cancer.

Ryan's courage runs deeper than displaying his Red Sox pride in enemy territory.

"Ryan has always accepted everything as it is," said his mother, Norma Reardon. "The doctors and nurses are always amazed at him. He never screams or cries when they're treating him."

Ryan also helped play a little part in Red Sox-Yankee history when in April he helped the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston promote the eBay auction for the David Ortiz jersey that a construction worker had buried in the new Yankee Stadium and was later dug up. The jersey eventually sold for $175,100 for cancer research.

When Ryan was about 41/2, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare pediatric cancer that forms in the body's nerve cells. Since then, he has endured 20 rounds of chemotherapy, several weeks of radiation, several major surgeries and most recently, special treatments at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Of all the treatments he's had, Ryan said chemotherapy was the worst.

"All my hair fell out and it made me really sick," he said. "I threw up a lot."

He has had cancer for half of his life, and has been on one treatment or another for the entire four and a half years he has been sick even when he was in remission for the first time, his mother said.

"This is normal for me," Ryan said. "I can remember my third birthday party and not much else from before I had cancer."

He was out of school from October through April when a malignant mass was found behind one of his ribs and in his brain. He had the two tumors surgically removed, and also received chemotherapy and radiation.

Despite his health problems, Ryan tries to keep a positive attitude.

He doesn't let his cancer stop him from enjoying the things any 8-year-old boy would like. He has an orange belt in karate and plays youth baseball. He watches "American Idol" and he has an enormous cat named Hosse that Ryan said acts like a dog. He reads Harry Potter books, and his favorite part of school is gym.

"I get to run around like a monkey and it doesn't involve numbers," he said.

Ryan goes to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for long weekends every month.

Neuroblastoma attacks the body's nervous system. Ryan's treatments attack the neuroblastoma cells and cause pain. As a result, he has to take heavy doses of painkillers while he receives treatments.

"I sleep, sleep and sleep while I'm there. I don't usually remember much," said Ryan. "I watched a movie while I was there once and don't ever remember watching it."

Cook began to show his concern for young cancer patients at the beginning of the "American Idol" season, when he was interviewed by a Tampa television reporter. After the interview, the reporter told Cook of his 7-year-old daughter's battle with leukemia and showed him the orange rubber bracelet people were wearing to support the child. Cook not only called the girl immediately, but also asked the reporter for an orange bracelet, which he then wore every week in the TV competition. On one side it has the girl's motto, "Do what you got to do," and the other side has her name, Lindsey Rose.

Ryan has been reaching out to help others too, his mother said.

"When Ryan got some cash in birthday cards, he didn't put it in the bank. He donated to it to Band of Parents," she said.

Band of Parents is a group of adults whose children have suffered from neuroblastoma. The group is dedicated to finding a cure, and funding the research needed to do so. More information about the group is available at www.bandofparents.org.

"I wanted to do something nice, and I didn't have any room left in my piggy bank," Ryan said of his donation.

Next weekend, when Ryan has his ninth birthday party, he is asking his friends to bring a donation for Band of Parents in place of a present.

About neuroblastoma

A cancer that invades the nervous system. It often affects the spinal cord in the chest, neck, or pelvis. It can form as early as birth.

About 1 in 6,000 children will be diagnosed with neuroblastoma by age 5.

Children under age 1 have a cure rate as high as 90 percent.

Children diagnosed after 18 months but before age 5 only have a survival rate of 30 percent.