HARRISONVILLE, Mo. — Owen Ragsdale greets the world with a smile.
A 6-year-old pediatric cancer patient from Harrisonville, Owen and his twin brother, Rhett, spent Tuesday evening meeting Royals players — from Salvador Perez to Bobby Witt Jr. and a half-dozen more players and coaches in between.
“We are getting some signs on this,” an amazed Owen said after Royals second baseman Michael Massey signed his ball and gave him an autographed bat.
MJ Melendez also gave Owen an autographed bat, while Witt stopped by with some autographed batting gloves and even signed Rhett’s T-shirt — which happened to feature his favorite player, Bobby Witt Jr. himself.
The players also signed a ball for Rhett — the chatty older brother, who was born a minute before Owen — who wrote the names of both twins in the dirt in front of the Royals’ dugout.
“Going to the Royals game last night and sitting on the field and meeting players, like Bobby Witt and Salvador Perez, Owen wants Rhett there,” Owen’s dad, Josh, said. “He wants Rhett to experience those things just as much as him. That speaks volumes to where his heart is, where his mind is and the type of person he is. Something we can all learn from him is just to be kind and caring. There’s a lot of good that comes from that.”
Owen and Rhett, like most childhood twins, are quite close.
“The first time they were separated for more than about two hours was in November when we found out about Owen’s tumor,” Megan said. “That was the first night they’d spent apart in 2 1/2 years.”
A gut-punch diagnosis
Owen was diagnosed with CNS Sarcoma, a rare type of brain tumor, in November 2023. He underwent an emergency craniotomy after the diagnosis, the first of two such surgeries he’s undergone in the last nine months.
There also have been countless chemotherapy cycles, including two during which Owen coded and needed emergency medical intervention to survive, and months of radiation treatment.
He spent most of June and July at Children’s Mercy Hospital, but Owen’s parents — Megan and Josh, who also have a 16-month-old daughter, Collins — remain relentlessly positive, even after receiving devastating news earlier this month. Doctors said they’ve exhausted treatment options and Owen moved back home.
“While you could dwell and be sad and worry about everything, I feel like that just makes everyone else around you sad and upset,” Megan said. “I feel like why not be happy and positive and make people smile and have Owen make people smile. I feel like he can make any and everyone smile. He’s always happy.”
Why wouldn’t Owen be with his beloved farting kangaroo by his side?
Owen loves to giggle as he makes “Kangy” toot. He used to play pranks on unsuspecting visitors in the waiting room at Children’s Mercy Hospital with the stuffed kangaroo.
“I feel like our positivity has led to Owen’s positivity,” Megan said. “He’s never once ever complained about feeling yucky or missing school or not being able to ride his bike anymore like Rhett does. He’s never once been upset about that. He just goes with the flow and has a big smile on his face.”
Owen’s made it as easy as possible to stay relatively positive from the moments after his first craniotomy.
“He asked, ‘What’s on the side of his head?’” Josh said, referencing the post-operative scar. He and Megan decided to be honest in an age-appropriate way — not oversharing, but also not completely shielding Owen from the truth — so mom explained that he’d had surgery on the inside of his skull.
“He looks at her and said, ‘There was a doctor in my head? That had to be a small doctor,’” Josh said with a laugh.
There have been some tough conversations, too — with Owen as well as Rhett.
“Rhett stays happy, but then he also mentions that he wishes Owen didn’t have cancer,” Megan said. “He mentions that he wishes we could all stay home together when we’ve been in and out of the hospital.”
Worst news parents can receive
There have been plenty of ups and downs on Owen’s cancer journey.
They celebrated the scans that showed progress, enjoyed a week between treatments at Disney World thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and fought through the 50-plus days in the hospital during chemo treatments.
“Until those words are said to us that, ‘Hey, we’re out of options,’ we were going to maintain that hope,” Josh said. “... A couple weeks ago, when we found out that we were out of options, I don’t think it caught us off guard. But it shook us and rocked our world.”
But that’s why these moments of kindness, these special opportunities people generously offer the twins are such a godsend for the Ragsdales.
“It’s extremely important to us and our family to have created these memories with Owen, but I think it’s equally important that we’re giving Rhett the opportunity to create some lasting memories to hold onto for ultimately when that day comes where Owen’s no longer with us,” Josh said.
There will be tears and heartache. They are inevitable, but until then the Ragsdales want to focus on laughter and love and making sure Owen’s light continues to shine bright.
“Does that mean that we’re not angry about it? No, we’re very angry," Josh said. “We’re very frustrated. We are disappointed these are the cards we’ve been dealt. But it’s not been the focus and we’ve tried to keep that noise out as much as possible.”
It’s what they believe is best for Owen, Rhett and Collins.
“We haven’t necessarily gone down that path because we know it doesn’t change where we’re at,” Josh said. “I’m sure at some point, on the other side of this, there will be some questions and some issues to work through.”
After initially being hesitant to accept the community’s help, Megan and Josh stowed their pride and it’s been a blessing. It’s also at the heart of their message to other families facing impossible struggles.
“Stay strong, don’t be afraid to ask for help, don’t be embarrassed to receive help when it’s being offered, because it allows you to focus 100% on your child through this,” Josh said.
KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.
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