I.P. teen with cystic fibrosis a local inspiration

Raising money to bring awareness to disease before annual Great Strides Walk

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As spring commences, it is the time of year for one of Island Park’s most inspirational figures to collect donations to help those with the disease he suffers from.

Although in actuality, John “J.J.” Byrne never stops advocating.

Byrne, 16, a Long Beach High School student from Island Park, was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when he was 6. He has begun raising funds to find a cure for the disease — a genetic condition that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time — through his team in this year’s Great Strides Walk at Jones Beach on May 7.

Byrne has led Team Shenanigans during the event — organized by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation — since 2012, and in that time has raised roughly $25,000. The team name was coined after Hurricane Sandy, when Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano arranged for a bus to bring Island Park residents to the Capitol in Washington D.C. to witness the signing of what is known as the Sandy Bill. Byrne took to the podium to say a few words.

“At the end, I said, ‘These politicians need to stop the political shenanigans, because we need to make our village greater than ever,’” recalled Byrne, “and it just stuck from there.”

Byrne won the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Unsung Hero Award in 2014, and the Island Park Business and Residential Chamber of Commerce’s Irma Tice Award last year. He received a 16-foot Skiff boat from the Make-A-Wish Foundation in October.

Byrne is always moving, doing whatever he can to help out the community, and has recently been busy making his rounds to collect donations for the upcoming event, according to his mother, Tara.

The teen is on LBHS’s student council and serves on a teen advisory committee at Winthrop University Hospital, which helps come up with ideas on how to improve the hospital experience. He is also instrumental in helping put on summer events at Masone Beach, and is even training to be a lector at Sacred Heart Church.

“He loves Island Park,” Tara said. “There is nothing more that he loves than Island Park. I really don’t think he’s ever going to leave.”

He has also been the special assistant to Mayor Michael McGinty for the last few years, spending a few afternoons per week at Village Hall assisting him and the clerk with anything and everything.

“J.J.’s highly intelligent, strong-willed and aggressive in a positive way,” McGinty said. “His personality is a serious and upbeat personality. He’s got a determination about him that permits him to forge forward.”

Fascinated with politics, Byrne said Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, of Island Park, has been a role model for him. Byrne hopes to go to law school and return to his hometown to become Island Park’s mayor. Though he fights a disease with a median survival age of less than 40 years and endures frequent treatments, Byrne said that his faith helps him get through every challenge.

“I don’t let being sick bother me because I can’t change that,” he said. “Just grin and bear it. Pray and hope for the best.”

Byrne called Island Park’s way of life “second to none,” and said it fosters multi-generational families with similar values. The community’s outpouring of donations for the annual walk is overwhelming, he said.

Each year, he sells Team Shenanigans T-shirts and sweatshirts, which have become a local fashion staple, especially for McGinty, who said he favors the grey one, and wears it with pride at least twice a week. “You see people all over town wearing them,” Tara said. “Everybody is great, and everyone knows [John].”

Byrne hopes to raise $5,000 before the event, and is confident he can with his neighbors on his side. He said his fundraising is a prime example of the character of the village and its residents.

“When I need help and I need support, everyone comes out and turns out and donates,” he said. “That goes for anything we do in Island Park. Many places, you struggle to get volunteers…but that’s not the problem here in Island Park, and we’re very fortunate for that.”

For more information, or to donate, visit the “Team Shenanigans Great Strides Walk 2017” Facebook page, or go to http://www.fightcf.cff.org.