{"id":28735,"date":"2012-09-12T06:31:09","date_gmt":"2012-09-12T11:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/?p=28735"},"modified":"2012-09-13T06:34:47","modified_gmt":"2012-09-13T11:34:47","slug":"ronan-tynan-beats-odds-as-singer-physician-athlete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2012\/09\/12\/ronan-tynan-beats-odds-as-singer-physician-athlete\/","title":{"rendered":"Multi-talented Ronan Tynan beats odds"},"content":{"rendered":"

CINDY WOOD\/<\/strong>independent feature writer<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ronan Tynan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The odds were against Ronan Tynan from the beginning. Born with phocomelia, a condition that caused the underdevelopment of his legs, his childhood could have easily been spent on the sidelines. But Ronan Tynan not only wanted to be in the game, he wanted to be the star.<\/p>\n

Despite his disabilities, Tynan grew up much like any other child, and enjoyed his passion for riding horses and motorcycles. Self-described as \u201cwild as a March hare,\u201d Tynan\u2019s life took another twisted turn when a severe auto accident at the age of 20 forced the amputation of his leg, and threatened to stifle the ambitious young man.<\/p>\n

But he pressed on, and within weeks of his accident, he was maneuvering the steps of his college dorm. A short time later, Tynan won a gold medal at the Paralympics. Heeding his mother\u2019s advice to follow his dreams, Tynan went on to win 18 gold medals and break 14 world records in multiple events. It was 10 years of his life he will never forget, Tynan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were some of the greatest years of my life. I wanted to win, and I wanted to leave a mark, and I did. It was just a very successful time for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

His achievements didn\u2019t end there. Pushed by his parents to go further — and reach higher — Tynan became the first handicapped person admitted to the National College of Physical Education, and took full advantage of the opportunities awarded him by becoming a doctor specializing in orthopedic sports injuries.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long before opportunity came knocking once again. \u201cMy father and I always enjoyed a wonderful relationship, and I used to sing with him all the time,\u201d Tynan said. \u201cI kept thinking I should do something with it, but at the time I was doing medicine. At some point, I guess I just decided \u2018why not?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

That simple decision led Tynan down a road of remarkable achievement that soon found him performing for world leaders. In 2004, Tynan performed in front of a television audience of 35 million, singing\u00a0 \u201cAmazing Grace\u201d and \u201cAve Maria\u201d at the funeral of former president Ronald Reagan.<\/p>\n

For Tynan, it was a huge honor to be personally invited by former First Lady Nancy Reagan. \u201cI was very nervous,\u201d he said, adding that 19 world leaders were in the audience. \u201cI was up at 4 a.m. and warmed up at 9, and was singing two hours later. I\u2019m fortunate I didn\u2019t have more time on my hands as nervous as I was. But it was a huge honor. A massive honor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since that time, he has performed at numerous notable events, including the 80th birthday of George H.W. Bush, as well as the wedding of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.<\/p>\n

His debut album, which allowed him to spread his wings from his Irish tenor days, reached No. 2 on Billboard\u2019s classical crossover chart. He\u2019s appeared on \u201cPrimetime Live,\u201d \u201cGood Morning America,\u201d \u201cThe 700 Club\u201d, and numerous other high-profile shows. The Dublin, Ireland, native is now one of the most sought-after motivational speakers throughout the nation, and he will soon bring that enthusiasm to the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.<\/p>\n

While Tynan has performed for prestigious world leaders, in front of millions, nothing tops singing for his parents, whom he credits with instilling the passionate drive that has carried him throughout his career. \u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no feeling better than performing for my parents,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s extremely humbling, and I can\u2019t think of anything better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tynan is in the midst of a world tour that will take him all over the U.S., as well as China, a performance which he anxiously awaits. \u201cI\u2019ve never been to China, so I\u2019m very much looking forward to that,\u201d he said, adding that each performance, in each city, is quite different.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt keeps things interesting,\u201d he added. \u201cI try not to make any place a favorite, because then you won\u2019t give the other performances the right kind of attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tynan will be the featured speaker at 7 p.m. Friday, September 14, at the NPAC. Tickets are $10 each and are available at the NPAC box office or at www.npacvw.org<\/a>. Tynan will present a concert, accompanied by the Lima Symphony Orchestra, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, September 15. Tickets are $22-$52 and are available now.<\/p>\n

Both events are part of the NPAC\u2019s five-year Gala Celebration to open the 2012-2013 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CINDY WOOD\/independent feature writer The odds were against Ronan Tynan from the beginning. Born with phocomelia, a condition that caused the underdevelopment of his legs, his childhood could have easily been spent on the sidelines. But Ronan Tynan not only wanted to be in the game, he wanted to be the star. Despite his disabilities, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 00:54:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28735\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}