West Alabama Teen Will Roberts Dies After Fight With Cancer

Will Roberts, the 15-year-old from Ralph whose yearlong battle with a rare and deadly bone cancer drew national attention and united thousands of strangers in prayer, died early Thursday morning at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. He was surrounded by his family.

His mother, Brittney Battles Roberts, announced his passing on Facebook shortly after 12:45 a.m. Thursday.

"At 12:45 a.m. today, on my birthday, our precious Will took his final breath on this earth and entered the presence of Jesus," she wrote. "Will was so much more than cancer. Will was the funniest person in the room. Will had a personality that could light up a hospital floor."

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His story reached Dr. Mehmet Oz, who helped connect the family with the drug's manufacturer, and Will and his parents eventually traveled to the Sarcoma Oncology Center in California for treatment.

Brittney Roberts said she and her husband Jason were the only ones with Will when he took his last breath, after the family made the decision to stop treatment when the cancer showed further progression in his brain.

"No child should have had to endure what Will endured," she wrote. "Yet every single day, Will found a reason to smile, crack a joke, encourage someone else, or remind us all what real strength looked like. Will never quit. Neither did we."

Will is survived by his parents and his sister, Charlie.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.

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