Lauren Hill, the Mount St. Joseph’s freshman who made national headlines this year for her unwavering resolve and upbeat spirit despite a grim diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor, lost her battle with cancer this morning.
She was 19.
Shortly after her 18th birthday, Hill was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, a rare form of brain cancer that usually affects young children. Doctors gave her only months to live.
Even with that prognosis, Hill made it known that she wanted to play on her university’s basketball team, and she realized that goal earlier this year when Mount St. Joseph took on Hiram College in November. Hill scored the first and last points of the game in front of a sold out crowd and television audience, drawing recognition from dozens of professional athletes, including LeBron James.
“You are simply and truly ‘AMAZING’ Lauren Hill!!! Thank you for inspiring me and I’ll try my best to match you! Congrats on your game. … You’re Awesome!!!” James tweeted.
In her final months, Hill devoted much of her time to fundraising for The Cure Starts Now Foundation, which spawned other campaigns to emerge, such as the #Layup4Lauren initiative.
Before her death, Hill helped raise over $1.4 million for pediatric cancer research.
This article appears in Apr 8-14, 2015.
