Ryan Buell never intended to be in front of a camera. “It was the last thing on my mind.”, he says.
Anyone who has seen the ground breaking show “Paranormal State” knows that Ryan experienced very frightening paranormal activity as a child. To this day, Ryan has never given out the full details of what happened to him. He has revealed what is he felt was appropriate at different times. Becauase of the activity and the fear it caused him, he became interested in finding the answers to what he had been through. What was it? He studied the paranormal as much as he could. When he went to college he formed a paranormal research team called the Paranormal Research Society, PRS. Because of his own experience, Ryan was sympathetic to the things that clients reported. PRS took on cases where help was needed with what appeared to be paranormal or even demonic activity. PRS began as a group of students on campus with a thirst for the truth and the determination to help those needed it. Ryan was approached to bring PRS to television, but that decision took 3-4 years to make. Paranormal State went on to become one of the most popular television shows in the paranormal genre. The show ended production in 2011, having filmed 83 episodes. The show remains a favourite of many in reruns today.
All the while Ryan was in school and after graduation, he continued to search for answers to the questions of the paranormal. With Bachelor degrees on journalism and anthropology from Penn State University, he served as Co-Executive Producer for “Paranormal State” and for “The Ghost Prophecies”, of which he is also the co-creator. He directed episodes of Paranormal State and was also the Executive Producer of the feature film American Ghost Hunter, which was released in 2010. Ryan wrote and published his memoir, “Paranormal State: My Journey into the Unknown” that year. In his book, he revealed to the world that he was bi-sexual and talked openly about his struggle to reconcile his sexual orientation with his Catholic faith.
In 2012, at the age of 30, the busy world of Ryan Buell came to a stop when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Such a diagnosis would cause many to stop what they are doing and prepare for the worst. Even worse, at an age where most people are just beginning to figure out what they want to do in life, here was a terrifying diagnosis. In Ryan’s case, it slowed him down, but he has not stopped moving forward. After taking time to seek treatment for his illness, Ryan is making plans for the future. And that future looks amazing.
Ryan had not done a paranormal radio show interview for over a year since he announced his illness. He talked to Anthony Agate and Luci Leibfried on the Blogtalk radio show Paranormal Review Radio in an exclusive interview on September 6th, 2013. “I was actually extraordinarily nervous about doing this interview.” After being reminded he has done a lot of interviews. “Things are different, I've become a hermit. I really have not been involved in much at all.” Ryan admits he has been doing some soul searching. “When I was investigating the paranormal, we were trying to answer questions about what happens to us when we die, but now here I was and still am, now making peace with the fact that I may very well die.” “When it first happened, we didn't know if I was going to live past 6 months. I was very sick. A lot of what I had to go through was, trying to make peace with death. And of course this happened right as I was at the end of my twenties. We all have one guarantee in life, we die, but no one really expects it and this, in a lot of ways is a slow on. It’s a slow death. You battle and fight as hard as you can and if you’re lucky you make it out and some, they do. Granted there is no defeat in death, but a lot of the battle is psychological. I’m able to do things now that I haven’t been able to do for a while.”
Ryan admits that he is becomes tired easily now. He is making improvement, but he says “Anyone who knows me, knows, that is not me.” He has good days and bad. He knows it may be years before anyone knows how much he can improve. Ryan was angry for a while, but says “Of course it has affected my life. After a while you start to look at it, I can’t control what happened, but I can be thankful for what I am doing now.”
So what is this amazing human being planning? A return to television among other things. Fans of Paranormal State will be happy to know that the show will be returning. Some of the team will return, but expect to see some new faces. Ryan shared his thoughts on who he is, what his life's work is and where he wants to go in the future, during the interview. Throughout his journey, he states that he has felt lonely, feeling like he had to hold it all in. He talks about his detractors, but admits by being public, they will always be there.
In spite of the cards he has been dealt, Ryan Buell is and a shining example of determination and courage in a world where heroes are hard to come by. Illness is my have slowed him down, but he certainly is not going to stop doing what he loves. He shows no signs of giving into his illness. And that is a beautiful thing to see.
To see what Ryan is planning and to get updates on his progress, you can go to ....
and you can hear the full interview with Paranormal Review Radio on....
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