Aliquippa teen DiMantae Bronaugh dies after battle with leukemia
DiMantae Bronaugh, 19, of Aliquippa, talks with family before a chemotherapy treatment December 24, 2015 at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh.
DiMantae catches his breath after a personal workout session at a parking lot behind his house July 14th in Aliquippa. His treatments were now spaced apart enough for him to feel well enough to work out and gain back muscle he had lost over the past several months.
DiMantae jogs to the locker room with his teammates after a conditioning session July 26 at Aliquippa High School.
DiMantae says goodbye to his aunt, Anita Gordon on Christmas Eve at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Anita needed to get back to her home in Aliquippa to attend to her younger children while DiMantae spent the Christmas holiday in the hospital.
DiMantae pauses during a during a personal workout session on a parking lot behind his house July 14th in Aliquippa. DiMantae and his aunt, Anita Gordon learned that his leukemia was no longer in remission on August 1st. He had started to experience the pain again during the last week of July which led to a trip to the hospital and a bone marrow biopsy.
DiMantae Bronaugh walks the halls of Children's Hospital before a treatment October, 9, 2015 in Pittsburgh.
Aliquippa football player DiMantae Bronaugh died Tuesday night after a year-long battle with leukemia. Bronaugh, a star football player for the Quips, was diagnosed prior to the 2015 season.
Bronaugh was 19.
He sat out what was supposed to be his senior year and underwent chemotherapy to treat his acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Granted an extra year of eligibility by the WPIAL, Bronaugh had hoped to make a comeback this season. But doctors determined he was no longer in remission in August and would need a bone marrow transplant.
Multiple communities and organizations turned out in support of Bronaugh’s search for a donor, including Charlotte Heyward, the mother of Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward. The Jeannette football team also recently raised $1,424.24 to support Bronaugh.
Despite his illness, Bronaugh was able to make an appearance at Heinz Field for Aliquippa’s game against Beaver Falls in the WPIAL Class 3A championship. Aliquippa coach Mike Zmijanac said afterward that while he knew Bronaugh was going to make an appearance, he thought it was just going to be in a private box arranged by the WPIAL. Instead, Bronaugh surprised the Quips in their locker room prior to the game and then watched the first part of the contest from the sideline.
Prior to being diagnosed, Bronaugh had helped Aliquippa to the WPIAL Class AA championship game in 2014. A transfer from Hopewell, Bronaugh — then a junior — ran for 1,235 yards and scored 24 touchdowns. He had hoped to team up with fellow senior Kaezon Pugh for a repeat performance in 2015. Instead, Bronaugh became a source of inspiration. He made occasional appearances in the locker room and on the sideline as Pugh ran for over 2,000 yards and Aliquippa made it all the way to Hershey for the state championship game.
{blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”}{p lang=”en” xml:lang=”en” dir=”ltr”}RIP young DiMantae.. This is tough. #24Strong
— James Conner (@JamesConner_) November 30, 2016{/blockquote} {script charset=”utf-8″ type=”text/javascript” src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”}{/script} That set the stage for Bronaugh’s potential comeback this August. Determined to be at peak performance, Bronaugh pushed himself through intense workouts in the sweltering summer heat. But as team workouts began, Bronaugh didn’t feel right and doctors later confirmed via a bone marrow biopsy that he was no longer in remission.
Aliquippa once again rallied around Bronaugh and he was never far from their minds all season. Neighboring communities also rallied with blood drives and a rush of social media support. Some of that support was evident as the news broke Tuesday. Pitt running back James Conner, a cancer survivor, tweeted Tuesday night,”RIP young DiMantae. This is tough. #24strong”
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin wrote on Twitter: “RIP DiMantae Bronaugh. You showed so much courage and heart and were an inspiration to many. My sympathies to family, friends & teammates.”
Aliquippa High School officials presented Bronaugh with his high school diploma Tuesday morning.