College basketball player Lauren Hill dies age 19 after brave cancer battle

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Hill was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer when she was 18 and by last September, she was told she would not live past December
She passed away in hospital on Friday after defying doctors' expectations
Last year, the NCAA agreed to bring the season's first game forward so she could achieve her dream of playing collegiate basketball
She ultimately played four games for Mount St. Joseph University before her health forced her to quit and coach instead
She continued to raise awareness for her cancer and raised $1.5 million

By Lydia Warren For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 07:55 EST, 10 April 2015 | Updated: 10:15 EST, 10 April 2015

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College basketball player Lauren Hill lost her battle with cancer on Friday morning, aged just 19.

The Indiana native, who was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer shortly after her 18th birthday, had defied doctors' expectations after they told her that she would not live past December.

Instead, she played four games with her team at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati and raised more than $1.5 million for research into the cancer, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma.

But as her condition worsened, she became an honorary coach and earlier this year, she moved to Cincinnati Children's Hospital, where she passed away on Friday morning.

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Loss: Lauren Hill, who is pictured playing for Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati in November, died in hospital on Friday - aged just 19 - after a brave battle with a rare form of brain cancer

Just a year and a half ago, Hill was just another high school student getting ready for college after she decided to play basketball at Mount St. Joseph.

A few weeks later, she started experiencing dizziness while playing for her high school team in nearby Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

Tests found the tumor and she was told that she had less than two years left.

But in September, doctors told her she wouldn't make it past December - and after years as a standout high school basketball player, Hill's hopes of playing college ball were put in jeopardy.

But the NCAA granted permission to move the school's opening game forward because of her worsening condition, and on November 2, she realized her dream of playing for the school.

She scored the first and last baskets of the team's 66-55 victory over Hiram College.

'It's a dream come true,' she said. 'To play on a college court, to put my foot down on the floor and hear the roar of the crowd - I just love it so much. I love basketball.

'Everything that happened today was amazing. I'm truly happy, it's a really good day.'

Lauren Hill scores first basket for MSJ in November 2014

Diagnosis: Lauren is pictured left in December 2013 and right in December 2014 after her treatment for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, a rare childhood brain cancer, changed her appearance

Brave: Hill, who used her limited energy to inspire people and raise money for research into the cancer that ultimately took her life, is pictured in her room in Cincinnati last December

Final days: Lauren is pictured enjoying Easter and St Patrick's Day from hospital in Cincinnati

At the game, she said she wanted to find a cure for the rare cancer, which has a less than 10 per cent survival rate and most often affects children aged four to nine.

DIPG: THE LITTLE-KNOWN BRAIN CANCER WITH A POOR PROGNOSIS

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a type of brain tumor found in the part of the brainstem at the lower back of the brain.

Due to the tumor's location, it can cause double vision, difficulty controlling eye movement and facial expressions, and difficulty swallowing and chewing. It may also cause weakness in the limbs.

The condition primarily affects children most often between the ages of four and nine.

Between 100 and 150 new diagnoses are made a year in the U.S. Only 300 are made across North America and Europe a year.

It can be treated with radiation, but chemotherapy is generally not effective and surgery is impossible due to the spread of the cancer into healthy tissue.

Unlike with other childhood cancers, there has been little progress in improving treatments and cure rates for the condition over the last few decades. Fewer than 10 per cent of children with DIPG survive two years after their diagnosis.

Source: DIPG Registry

'When I was diagnosed I remember kind of feeling lonely because nobody understood,' she said following the game, USA Today reported. 'And now that more people know about this story and the awareness of DIPG.

'I'm so happy that people know about it now and that we can get some research going and hopefully find that home run cure for cancer. And even though I'm probably not going to be around to see it, it's going to help a lot of people.'

Hill played in four games and made five layups before the spreading tumor made her stop. When the season ended, her team held its annual dinner in the hospital where Hill was being treated.

She was also honored at local sporting events and was featured on a box of Wheaties - known as the Breakfast of Champions.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association voted her the Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award, which is normally awarded at the Final Four. Athletes from other colleges autographed No. 22 jerseys - her number - and sent them in support.

As the cancer slowed her down, her family, friends and teammates took a bigger role in promoting her fundraising campaign - and she kept reminding everyone to appreciate life.

'Life is precious,' she told WKRC-TV. 'Every moment you get with someone is a moment that's blessed, really blessed.'

The co-founder of her nonprofit foundation confirmed Lauren's death in hospital on Friday.

Fighter: The NCAA moved the school's first game forward last November (pictured) so that Lauren could achieve her dream of playing for collegiate basketball. She scored the first and last baskets

Heroic: Hill, left, smiles at Pat Summitt after receiving the Pat Summitt Award during halftime of her first NCAA college basketball game in November last year. She went on to play four games for the school

'Through Lauren's fundraising and advocacy efforts, she not only became a spotlight on the lack of funding for cancer research, but she most certainly has become a beacon guiding researchers for years to come,' The Cure Starts Now co-founder Brooke Desserich said.

Her nonprofit foundation helped to raise more than $1.5 million for cancer research.

'She's made an impact on the world, more so than me - more than I ever will do,' her coach Dan Benjamin said. 'I've gotten so many emails and phone calls from all over the world. People are contacting me because they want to share her story.'

No information about a memorial has yet been released but Lawrenceburg Schools superintendent Karl Galey said on Twitter that schools will be prepared to assist staff and students with counseling.