It was mid-afternoon on June 19, 2001 when Pat Boone and his wife Shirley received phone calls no family members ever want to receive: their 24-year-old first grandson Ryan had fallen almost 40 feet to the concrete ground through a skylight on the roof of his three-story Brentwood apartment.
Fearing the worst, they both rushed to the emergency room at UCLA, with Shirley arriving minutes after the ambulance – it was still parked out front with its engine running.
“She saw some paramedics and asked ‘I think you just took my grandson, how is he?’ Pat said. “They said ‘don’t get your hopes up lady’ in a blunt manner that was sort of like saying ‘he’s gone.’”
Almost 13 years later, Ryan has recovered about 50 percent physically and 80 percent mentally, which the family is thrilled about after he was initially diagnosed with next to no chance of recovering.
Since that day, the Boone family has dedicated themselves to raising funds for families who cannot afford to pay the expensive medical costs and rehabilitation associated with brain injuries.
To date, they have raised closed to $1 million through fundraisers hosted by Pat including annual golf tournaments and 5K and 10K runs.
On Sunday, June 1, Pat will celebrate his 80th birthday at the Beverly Hilton’s International Ballroom with a celebrity roast fundraiser – with all proceeds to benefit Ryan’s Reach – The Ryan Corbin Foundation.
The foundation is dedicated to the rehabilitation, retraining, and support of individuals who have been devastated by traumatic brain injury.
Among the more than three dozen celebrities confirmed to roast Boone: Jon Voight, Larry King, Shirley Jones, Norm Crosby, Tom Dreesen, and Rich Little.
Pat said he wasn’t too worried about what might be said.
“It’s not as if I’m a big drinker, or carouser, or a wild living guy,” Pat said. “If I was Charlie Sheen, you could think of a lot of things. I could almost be ridiculed for being square, but that’s okay!”
Pat said he was looking forward to the night, which is expected to have about 600 guests.
“I have roasted Larry King on another occasion, so it’s his turn to get me back,” he said. “Norm Crosby will be there. He fractures the English language – that’s always hilarious. Rich Little who imitates everybody including me will be there. My good friend Gavin MacLeod – the captain of ‘The Love Boat’ says he’s not going to roast me, he’s going to toast me because we’re good friends. He told me ‘I can’t roast you, but I’ll toast you by saying a few funny things.’”
Organizers of the event are also hoping for a few A-list surprise roasters – they have invited people like Jay Leno, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey, Jr. and even Snoop Dogg, who has previously worked on a TV show episode with Pat.
“Snoop mentioned me in one of his songs in a very complimentary way,” Pat said. “The line was about how all the girls love Pat Boone.”
Boone said the idea for the roast was that of his daughter Lindy – Ryan’s mother.
“She’s a very big hearted good person,” Pat said. “She and her husband have been the most exemplary wonderful parents to Ryan.”
At the time of the accident in 2001, Ryan had graduated from Pepperdine University just two months earlier with honors.
Pat said Ryan was on his way to becoming a screenwriter and producer, adding Ryan had already written his first screenplay and was working for the writers of “Will & Grace.”
After almost 13 years of therapy, Pat said Ryan had a huge sense of humor and was always fun to be around.
“With a walker he can take steps – in the pool he can take more deliberate steps,” Pat said. “He’s intelligent. He’s got his sense of humor. He’s in therapy five to six days a week and we’re able to handle all of the financial costs. We learned quickly that most families who go through this sort of thing cannot afford it. Hundreds of thousands of people have brain injured loved ones each year and they can’t handle the financial drain of even trying to get basic therapy for very long. Since the accident, we began to think of ways to help others in the same situation. It was Lindy mostly and her husband Mike, coming up with ways to raise money for other people whose families have a brain injured loved one.”
Pat said there’s a clinic that’s helped Ryan significantly called High Hopes Medical in Orange County.
“It takes care of brain injured people that other clinics have given up on, and they take them at no charge and they do help them get more of their lives back,” he said. “They can’t get everyone back to what they were, but we’re believing Ryan will be because he has made such progress.”
Pat was hopeful his birthday roast could raise well into the six-figures – he is even auctioning off his top of the line Harley Davidson he bought in 1997 that only has 2,000 miles on it.
Pat’s daughter Lindy Boone Michaels said it was not easy to get her father to give in to the spotlight for a big party like this.
“However, knowing that it will be a fundraiser for the charity founded after his grandson Ryan’s traumatic brain injury in 2001 – Ryan’s Reach – he agreed to be roasted unmercifully,” she said.
A VIP reception where sponsors will have the opportunity to meet Pat along with the other celebrities will precede the dinner and roast.
Along with this night of comedic ridicule, Debbie Boone, Pat’s award-winning recording artist daughter, will perform a special birthday set for her father.
To learn more about Ryan’s Reach, visit www.ryansreach.com.
The Pat Boone 80th Birthday Celebrity Roast
Sunday June 1, 2014
5 pm: VIP Reception and arrivals
6 pm: Dinner & Roast begin
The Beverly Hilton International Ballroom
9876 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Tickets start at $350 per person
www.thepatboonecelebrityroast.com
