Inspirational Teenager Who Went Viral for Plea to Cure His Bone Cancer Passes Away at 15

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC/Gray News) - An Alabama teenager, who was diagnosed with stage 4 bone cancer last year and went viral for pleading on his mother’s Facebook page for a drug to cure his cancer, has died.

Will Roberts’s family posted on Facebook that the 15-year-old died just after midnight at a hospital in San Diego where he had been receiving care.

“There isn’t a mother alive who could ever find the right words to write a post like this. I have stared at this screen, started over more times than I can count, and the truth is… there are no words big enough for a loss like this," his mother, Brittney Roberts, said.

She said Will’s cancer showed progression of disease in his brain, affecting his mental capacity, and that she and her husband, Jason, made the decision to stop his suffering.

“Will is finally ringing his forever cancer free bell as he entered the gates of Heaven,” Brittney Roberts said.

She and her husband were with Will as he took his last breath.

“Until I see you again, Will…I love you more than words will ever be able to say. It has been the greatest honor of my life to be your mama," she said.

Will first gained national attention in April after he accessed his mother’s Facebook page and posted a plea asking for help finding a cancer drug that could treat his condition.

The video spread widely online, prompting outreach from lawmakers and Dr. Oz, who connected the family with a treatment facility in Santa Monica, California. Will received a drug known as Delta Rex G at that facility.

“Will was the funniest person in the room. Will had a personality that could light up a hospital floor. Will was stubborn enough to drive us crazy one minute and make us laugh the next. Will loved hard, fought harder, and never stopped believing there was another mountain to climb.” She said that Will died on her birthday, calling it a “gift” to know her son was in “the kingdom of Heaven.”

“What a beautiful gift that God gave me today on my birthday ... What better gift could I have received than to know my baby boy is sitting with Jesus and is cancer free,” she said.

His mother thanked the thousands of people who walked beside them on their journey and said Will was so much more than a cancer patient.

“You have prayed when we didn’t have the strength. You celebrated every victory with us and cried through every setback. You loved Will like family, and we will spend the rest of our lives grateful for every single one of you,” she said.

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