A brilliant writer for OLM and the Centretown Buzz, activism for Ottawa’s PWD community became a cornerstone of Ryan Lythall’s life. In 2018, seeking a better life for those in Ottawa whose voices are often ignored, Lythall made the decision to run for Mayor of Ottawa. It was only one ambitious decision in a life that could have gone very differently had Lythall not been such an effective advocate for himself and for those who live with disabilities in our city.
Born on January 4, 1975, at six months old, Lythall stopped breathing and required a ventilator from that point forward. He was diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular condition called Nemaline Myopathy that left him unable to walk. Lythall spent his youth at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario as an institutionalized patient, attending Ottawa Crippled Children’s Treatment Centre, which would eventually be renamed the Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre. Lythall wrote of the psychological toll this upbringing took on him, as friends he had made would often pass away during the night, leaving a profound weight on fellow students at the hospital-based school the next day.
Given the option to move into a group home or a long-term care facility at the age of 19 in 1994, Lythall took the momentous step of deciding to live independently. Following two years of hard work and activism by his mother and himself to prove that it would be more cost-effective to allow the then-teenager the dignity of living on his own—with the needed in-home attendant and medical care that Lythall required around the clock. He was the first person ever in Canada to live independently while being on a ventilator.
Over his 30 years living on his own, Lythall embraced his life to the fullest, fueled by a passion for music, movies, standup comedy, tattoos, and roller hockey, where he was a goaltender. Taking the X.com user name Rolling Enigma, he regularly posted his daily adventures on the platform and his daily life as well, painting a picture of a regular person’s life that was well-lived. Attending outings with other people with disabilities and family and friends.
It wasn’t always easy for him, though, and he, like so many other people with disabilities in Ottawa, was adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic when it began. Requiring 24 hours of care a day meant that he needed three shifts of eight hours split between three different attendants. This became more difficult as the need for medical workers compounded throughout the pandemic. Lythall worried that he would have to move into a long-term-care facility to get the care he needed. Thankfully, this did not happen, but his weekly columns often centred around the challenges and frustrations of working with a healthcare system that often negated his needs.
Lythall was an expert on all things related to accessibility, making it a priority to be a vocal advocate for how to improve City of Ottawa services regarding everything from ramps and music festival accessibility at Bluesfest to how to improve the, at times, dysfunctional Para Transpo service that he relied on to get around Ottawa. Meeting with his local city Councillor and OC Transpo general manager to advocate for a better place to live for all people with disabilities, he wrote about the experiences of being an activist for a cause that few took up with as much gusto and passion as he did.
He also was not afraid to voice opinions that might have been against the current, advocating that mask mandates remain in place in 2022 so that the most vulnerable in society would not face more danger due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a fellow writer at Ottawa Life Magazine, Lythall was the person to reach out to if an angle was needed from the perspective of a person with disabilities; during an assignment looking at the impact of E-scooters on the downtown core, he described them as a nuisance at the best of times and hazard at the worst from a perspective not often heard in mainstream discourse around the issue.
Lythall took a step back from contributing to Ottawa Life while training new staff, but a mishap with his wheelchair kept him away longer than expected. Lythall left us too soon at the age of 50 years old, an eloquent writer, friend to many, and a great colleague who was a valued member of the Ottawa Life family.
Lythall taught us all an important lesson, even though he was in a wheelchair, he never took anything sitting down. We extend our deepest condolences to Ryan’s many friends and his family.
