After 22-year-old Kia Lettice, who has ovarian cancer, was told she had four hours to live, her friend Mahalia Murphy, an Australian Rugby Sevens star, put out an urgent request on Facebook to ask if anyone could put them in contact with the former Wests Tigers and Sharks winger.
Amazingly, Ryan responded from his own Facebook account after the post was shared hundreds of times, telling Murphy he was "two hours away" from the Prince of Wales hospital and would be there soon.
A few hours later Murphy updated her Facebook account with a picture of Lettice and Ryan.
