Spartan hockey standout battles for wife's health

In 1997, Tyler Sawchyn scored the only goal against Hayward to send the Spartans to state.

Now, he’s shooting for another winning goal with the help of some of his former teammates: This time the goal is for his wife, Bethany Sawchyn, to win her fight against cancer.

Bethany Sawchyn was recently diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia.

They’re holding a fundraiser in Superior for the couple and their healthy baby girl, Margarett Mae Sawchyn, according to Tyler’s grandmother, Pat Ryan of rural Superior.

The fundraiser includes dinner between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. May 6 at Eddie’s Supper Club and a silent auction that runs 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The dinner features ribs or chicken breast, potato salad, apple pecan beans and coleslaw at Eddie’s for $10.

Silent auction items include a Cirrus airplane ride, two-person half-day fishing trip on Lake Superior, a stained glass eagle window and many other items.

The donations keep coming in, Ryan said.

Bethany Sawchyn credits her newborn daughter with her diagnosis.

“Our beautiful Margarett Mae joined us on March 13,” she wrote on her CaringBridge website. “She is a perfectly healthy little girl who was given a very important job from the start. Toward the end of the pregnancy I started to have abnormal blood work that would have otherwise gone undetected. After her birth, we found out that the abnormalities were not related to the pregnancy. I was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia. On March 26, I was admitted to the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore to begin treatment.”

Ryan said while they had hoped she would be able to leave the hospital for a few days, that hasn’t happened.

The leukemia, which is a subtype of acute myeloid leukemia, results in a drop in white blood cells, which fight infection.

“Homecoming delayed because of continued dropping white blood cells,” Bethany Sawchyn wrote on April 10. “Enjoying some quiet time with the hubby while nana soaks up Maggie time before heading back to Minnesota. Thanks for all your help nana Linda!”

Family from Minnesota and Wisconsin have been helping the couple take care of their newborn daughter by flying to the East Coast to lend a hand with the baby, Ryan said.