Ryan Diviney before and after he was assaulted in November 2009.

Four Butler High School graduates are planning a 300-mile bicycle ride this October to raise money for a Virginia family put in a tragic situation.

The annual Ride for Ryan will raise money to support Ryan Diviney and his family. Ryan, 28, has lived in a vegetative state since 2009, when he suffered a traumatic brain injury in an assault near the West Virginia University campus, where he was a student.

Ryan was assaulted around 3 a.m. on Nov. 7, 2009, outside a convenience store near the WVU campus after he and two friends had exchanged words with another group of people about the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team. Ryan was punched in the face, knocked unconscious and then kicked in the head while laying on the sidewalk.

Ryan lives in his parents’ home and is fed through a tube. The cost of his care is about $2 million per year, according to ryansrally.org.

The four riders, John Maletta, Bob Nole, Gerry Durishan and Dave Schmidt, will ride more than 300 miles on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail in Kentucky from Oct. 14 to 18.

People can make donations by visiting ryansrally.org or by making a check out to the Ryan Diviney Special Needs Trust and mailing it to 2306 Salem Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15237.

People can also support the ride by dining at The Franklin Inn, 2313 Rochester Road, Wexford, on Tuesday, Oct. 10. The restaurant will donate 20 percent of lunch or dinner tabs of people who tell their server they are there to support Ryan Diviney. Health Monitoring Systems of Pittsburgh will match the money raised at The Franklin Inn.

A full report will appear in the Butler Eagle.