Former Steeler Smith-Schuster helps Hampton boy support friend in fight against leukemia

A surefire way to raise money in Western Pennsylvania is to auction off anything related to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That’s what young Hampton resident Rylan Lennex had in mind when he attended a “Final Farewell to Pittsburgh” event in June for JuJu Smith-Schuster, who was leaving the Steelers for Kansas City. Rylan’s hope was to have the star wide receiver autograph a few items, which in turn could benefit a friend in need and her family.

Smith-Schuster ended up signing a football and three sweatshirts, plus he made a monetary pledge through his nonprofit JuJu Foundation.

“He said, ‘I’m going to give you $5,000 to donate in your name to her,’” Rylan’s mother, Patty, recalled.

The generosity is on behalf of 6-year-old Kaylee Manz, who is in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the bone marrow and blood. Most children with the disease are cured after treatment, according to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Kaylee and Rylan, 10, met through their mutual participation in Hampton Wrestling’s youth program, which starts with kindergartners.

“She was only a little girl,” Patty Lennex said. “We’d watch her wrestle, and she was so cute. She just was really into it.”

When Rylan learned of her diagnosis, he was determined to support the fund set up by the program to help Kaylee’s family cover costs.

Rylan raised several hundred dollars by asking people in his neighborhood for donations, collecting money during his baseball games, running a lemonade stand where his family camps and, to the tune of $300-plus, auctioning off the items Smith-Schuster had signed.

Kaylee’s mother, Carly O’Brien, learned about the JuJu Foundation money during a youth wrestling match in December, when the grant had been finalized.

“When they told us about it and they said what it was that he was donating, I was flabbergasted,” she said. “In the picture, my face says it all. I started bawling.”

She has high praise for the Wyland Elementary School fifth-grader who made it all happen.

“For Rylan to go that far, to work that hard, it was just amazing. And he’s just the sweetest boy ever, to be able to do that,” O’Brien said. “He went above and beyond.”

Actually, he was a bit apprehensive about approaching Smith-Schuster, according to his mother.

“My son was so cute, because he was like, ‘Man, he’s a millionaire. I don’t know if I can talk to him,’” she said.

But with the encouragement of people standing in line with them, Rylan showed Smith-Schuster a picture of Kaylee and told him her story, prompting the football player’s act of largess.

“Rylan was just beside himself. I have a picture of him looking at JuJu, and the look on his face was just a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Patty Lennex said. “It really was.”

She worked extensively with Sammy Schuster in bringing the foundation grant to fruition, and at one point told JuJu’s mother:

“You know what? We’ve got a couple of pretty good sons.”

Initially, the goal for the fund set up for Kaylee’s family was to reach $10,000. The total actually came in at more than $10,000, with additional money raised through efforts such as a Christmas in July event held by Hampton Wrestling and Casey’s Family Restaurant.

O’Brien certainly is appreciative as her daughter continues maintenance chemotherapy through August 2024, which will mark two years since her remission.

“It’s still weekly doctor visits,” O’Brien said. “She doesn’t get much of a break from it, but it’s all to prevent it from coming back.”