In 2021, Garrett Rymer was having a typical day for any teenager. He was riding his bicycle when he crashed and broke his right arm. He’d have to wear a cast and, when he returned for a checkup, although the bone had healed, he had a weakness in his arm that wouldn’t go away.  

So, doctors at Children’s Hospital Colorado investigated, and just two days before Christmas, his mom delivered the world-bending news that he had a rare form of spinal cord cancer. 

It pulled a dark cloud over the holidays and his foreseeable future. 

But, after countless appointments, treatment plans, and lengthy talks with several doctors, more than a year and a half later, Rymer, now 16, is doing well. He’s gearing up for the 6th annual Denver Open Water Swim put on by Swim Across America. In the Aug. 20 event at Chatfield Reservoir in Littleton, participants swim to raise money for cancer research. 

“Coming from someone who wouldn’t be alive today without the generous donations put toward cancer research, your involvement with Swim Across America might just save a life,” Rymer said. 

Rymer is an ambassador for the nonprofit, and is currently on a campaign to help others like him. He is in high spirits also, feeling healthier after lots of treatment and undergoing surgery to remove roughly half of the tumor from his spinal cord last year. 

Rymer also participated in a clinical trial for a chemotherapy treatment that involved a new, twice-daily pill, meaning he wouldn’t have to face weekly infusions. 

“The side-effects were less severe than those of conventional chemo, and I was blessed to be able to keep my hair and live my life relatively unhindered by my treatment,” Rymer said. 

The remaining tumor hasn’t grown. In fact, it has even shrunk a tad thanks to the new treatment. Rymer said this news is incredible considering chemotherapy isn’t known to shrink tumors; it typically just stunts their growth. Now,  he is in the watchful, monitoring stage, with check-ups every three months or so. 

His school work hasn’t suffered either. The Cherry Creek High School junior is a standout in science and mathematics, and has won two Bruins Choice Awards from his school for excellence in his studies.  His parents describe him as absolutely thriving — academically, physically, socially, and spiritually — in spite of his cancer.

He called me from his family’s summer home in Michigan ahead of his Swim Across America event. The soon-to-be Eagle Scout discussed his own battle and his passion for helping others with cancer. 

… 

First of all, how are you doing? It seems like things might be looking up for you. 

I’m great. It’s nice to be out and resting. I’ve had a pretty busy summer, kind of going all over the place. I had some appointments, some family trips, my trip with the (Boy) Scouts. I’ve kind of been all over the map this summer, so it’s nice to come up here. It’s a second home for us. It’s relaxing, so it’s been great. 

So how did you get involved with Swim Across America? Why was it important to you?

So this is a funny story. My first swim coaches were the sons of Mr. Eric Vitcenta, who is kind of the director of the Denver chapter of Swim Across America. His sons were not only the coaches on my swim team, but he and my dad have been friends for years. When he heard I had been diagnosed with cancer, he reached out saying, “This is what it is. This is what we do. If Garrett ever gets to the point that he’s interested.” So ultimately that’s how I got into it and I became an ambassador for Swim Across America. It’s important. I’m thankful to have become a part of several organizations who bring light into the lives of pediatric cancer patients, such as Swim Across America.

How is the function in your arm these days? Will swimming be tough?

With regards to the actual swimming, that’s been a pretty big hurdle. Up until Mr. Vitcenda approached me, I had done very little swimming since the diagnosis. Before then, I had swam every summer on our summer league team, but I hadn’t done anything super competitive. But afterwards, I kind of got out of it just because I have a lot going on, mostly because it was very difficult with my arm. To this day I still can’t really raise my arm. Imagine if you’re reaching out to catch a ball or working on something overhead. That’s just a movement I haven’t been able to do. 

What changed that made you want to get back in the pool?

They offer a half mile, a one mile, and two mile at the Swim Across America event. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be up for any of it. But I decided to just go to my local neighborhood pool to give it a try to see if I felt like I could do it, and I was surprised to learn I could. At first, I was just doing the normal free stroke, the crawl, with my left hand, my unaffected arm. But eventually I figured out I can incorporate my right arm by using my left arm to pull it forwards. It allowed me to find a way to swim with my arm, while using my legs heavily too. I’ve been training a lot for the event since, and I’ve done the mile swim twice. So that’s the event I’m going to do.

What is Peak to Peak Detailing, by the way? 

Oh! Detailing was just something I got into just a few months ago. I got my first vehicle (a 2012 Toyota 4Runner), which was super exciting. There was a little stain on the seats, so I was Googling how to get the stain out. It kind of opened this whole world for me where it was like, “Oh man, it’s not just taking it to the carwash and wiping it with a vacuum.” So I kind of started to learn the skills one by one. I made a deal with my parents that I’d do full interior and exterior details on both of their cars if they would pay for some supplies I needed to start up. So I started Peak to Peak Detailing in February, and had my first official paid client in May. It’s kind of grown to be my own business. 

*Rymer is offering a vehicle detail package as a fundraising incentive for Team Children’s Colorado, which is participating in the Swim Across America Denver event, and he has raised more than $3,000 to date for the upcoming swim. You can view more details here. 

Finally, who have you leaned on for strength throughout this battle, and how important have the people around you been to your mindset in recent years? 

Oh man, I’ve really been blessed to have a lot of great people surround me. Obviously, my family has been there to support me throughout it all. Outside of my family, while I was in the hospital, I had a surgery to try and remove some of that tumor. I spent about three weeks in the hospital after that surgery. I didn’t really feel comfortable telling anybody at that point. I was worried about rumors and still trying to come to terms with it myself. But the one group that I was comfortable telling was my scout troop. It’s kind of like another family for me, there’s about 40 of us in our troop. My best friend, who is part of that troop, told them on my behalf during one of our meetings. A few weeks later when I got out of the hospital and went to my first meeting, it was pretty monumental to see how excited they were that I was back. It was great to see that. Really all around I’ve had so many people surround me. I definitely could not have gotten through all this without all the people to support me.