Tyler Trent, the former Purdue student who inspired countless sports fans with his gratitude and grace, has succumbed to a rare form of bone cancer on Tuesday. He was 20 years old.
Trent first earned the admiration of the Boilermaker football team by camping outside the stadium last September prior to the team's Big Ten home opener against No. 8 Michigan. He posed for a picture with head coach Jeff Brohm the morning of the game. Trent did not initially tell Brohm that he had spent the previous afternoon at a chemotherapy session battling osteosarcoma.