RYAN MCGREGOR OVERCAME A VICIOUS AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE ON HIS WARPATH TO REDEMPTION

There are no words that can accurately articulate the love and respect we have for our servicemen and servicewomen. 

What they go through is both remarkable and inspiring….

And never easy. 

Take Ryan McGregor for example… 

“When I returned from deployment, I noticed many health issues,” he said. “Over Christmas of 2019, I noticed my glands under my tongue swelling and pushing my tongue to the roof of my mouth. After many surgeries, in and out of the hospital, that issue got resolved, but I wasn’t aware of the bigger issue that was connected to this.” 

During this time, he was able to get into a gym routine at the beginning of February 2020, but that quickly ended due to the pandemic. Then from March – June, he did home workouts, riding the bike, and stayed as focused as possible. 

That didn’t last long.

“At the beginning of June is when my autoimmune disease flared up and I started to experience extreme arthritis in my knees, hands, and ankles barely being able to walk, and losing 22 pounds,” he said. “I couldn’t even hold my daughter. I wasn’t able to get diagnosed and start treatment until the end of June. During this time, my friend introduced me to the APEMAN brand. I went through the APEMAN strong Instagram and reading the cards. People always asked me how I felt and I couldn’t really explain how until I read the PERSEVERE and LIFTED cards.” 

His first shirt that he ordered was LIFTED because it spoke to him. The shirt and accompanying card helped Ryan with inspiration. 

“The people around me lifting me up, the moments where I haven’t always been strong, where not every day I was on top of the mountain,” he added. “But the people around me brought me up, my daughter looking up to me and knowing I couldn’t quit. This is when I felt LIFTED. That’s when I wrote my 12-week training program and started day one.” 

For Ryan, it was more than his autoimmune disease and physical pain that he overcame within that 12 weeks. It was also the darkness, the helplessness, the feeling of not wanting to be here anymore. 

He found is worth and meaning again. 

“My purpose was to come back and share my story so others can pull themselves out of the darkness as well,” Ryan said confidently. “I still to this day carry the coin with the word PERSEVERE on it to every treatment I go to because it reminds me that ‘the dark will never last forever.’”

Ryan approaches every day with the feeling and attitude as the guy that got on that bike for the first time in July of 2020, who got back into the gym after losing everything he worked for. That fire that was lit, the pictures of him being in the hospital, the photos of his progress and everything in between helped motivate him to get better and lets him know the disease can’t stop him from achieving greatness. 

“Training has always helped me clear my mind,” Ryan said. “I firmly believe the gym is the only place that is strictly about you versus you. You get what you put into it. It is one of the only places where you don’t have anyone telling you what to do besides yourself. Powerlifting has brought me the energy I needed. The heavy weights that are nowhere close to the weight that people carry around who have been through tragedies like this.”

Ryan loves every APEMAN saying, but his top three are PERSEVERE, LIFTED, and WARPATH OF REDEMPTION. 

“I want people to know that the darkness, the hopelessness, the pain does not last forever,” Ryan said. “Do not be embarrassed to reach out and talk to others or ignore that you are struggling. Remember that it is okay to struggle, and you need to accept that you are struggling, but do not stay there forever. Understand you are at your lowest low, find a way to break the chains that are keeping you down, and allow your sun to rise again. 

“When you feel the sun hit your face after the storm has passed, be sure to share your story so others can be LIFTED.”