Many parents might make some variation of the claim that the birth of their children “saved their lives,” but in Toby Moran’s case, it’s just a fact.

Moran, 46, was diagnosed with an advanced case of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2013, just shortly after the birth of his youngest child. He received six months of chemotherapy, and doctors were hopeful that the treatment could keep the cancer at bay.

Within three months, however, it had returned in force. Moran would need a bone marrow transplant to save his life.

“It’s hit or miss with bone marrow because I have no true siblings, so finding a match was difficult, to say the least,” Moran reflected.

But Moran had a saving grace. His oldest daughter, Taylor, who was only 17 at the time, was a match.

“It was a decision I left to her and her mom,” Moran said. “They had a real good conversation about it. I was very hesitant about it, because that’s my daughter and I don’t want to see her struggle or suffer from this. She didn’t choose this either.”

After some weighty conversations between Taylor, her mother, and Toby, she agreed to be his bone marrow donor, which was successful, and Moran has been in remission ever since.

“We’ll have a little laugh about it every now and then,” Moran said. “The big joke is I had to take her DNA, so now I have female DNA in me.”

A unique perspective to offer
At the time Moran received his diagnosis, he had just begun coaching for the Warren Youth Soccer Association, a passion he has enjoyed for eight years now.

A Johnston native and product of Johnston public schools, Moran was a self-proclaimed “backyard brawler”, participating in lots of pickup games and enjoying various sports, but due to his diagnosis at 10 with Type 1 diabetes, he never felt as though he had the opportunity to participate in organized sports the way other kids did.

“That was a real difficult thing to get used to, because diabetes then wasn’t what it is now,” he said. “It’s a different animal now, a lot more easier to control and manage. That’s kind of what I grew up with, hiding behind what was in front of me.”

Soccer, in particular, was one sport that always kept his attention and enthusiasm.

“I always liked the game and watching it and playing it. I always say in soccer, you’re never perfect. There’s always something you could do to improve,” he said. “I look at soccer kind of like chess. There’s always moving pieces. You have to sacrifice something somewhere but it’s for the greater cause of the game.”

When his second daughter, Emily, started enjoying youth soccer after Moran moved to Warren in 2007, it reignited that spark once again and encouraged him to step up and volunteer as a youth coach.

“My daughter made me love soccer again,” he said. “Watching her and her friends, that she didn’t even know when we started, they made me re-love the game because it was like learning it all over again…Their love of it and their enthusiasm growing with it year after year made me really love it. They asked me to help out after Emily’s first season.”

Even when he was sick, Moran pushed through the discomfort of treatment to continue coaching. His experience both dealing with cancer and a lifetime of dealing with diabetes has enabled him a special level of empathy and understanding while coaching his young players.

“I’m a big kid as well, so it’s easy for me to talk to them,” he laughed, adding that he has noticed much more openness among kids going through similar challenges he went through as a kid.

“There’s a lot more diabetics around and I encourage them to not hide it and be proud of it and talk about it more,” he said. “It was something I never had the option to have because it was more of a hush hush thing.”

Despite going through some pretty harrowing times, Moran talks about his experience with an open lightness that reflects the same attitude that helped get him through those difficult times.

“I think every day definitely is a blessing for me, and I’ve always lived that way. That was something that I brought into it before I had cancer,” he said. “I never thought I deserved more than the next guy.”

Besides keeping things light in order to get through life’s challenges, Moran had a more tangible piece of advice born from his experience.

“Go to your physicals. You have to listen to your body,” he said.