Super welterweight boxing champ Omar Henry succumbed to gall bladder cancer today, just eight days short of his 26th birthday. Diagnosed with State 4 gall bladder cancer in November, Henry recently posted an emotional message on Facebook thanking supporters for their prayers and sharing his hope that he would live to see one more birthday.
"I got exactly less than 1 month left until my 26th birthday February 8. Hopefully I live to see it," Henry wrote. "I really have been getting a lot of support with kind words and prayers from all over the world with this battle with cancer. Thank you and I will continue to fight for us!!!!"
In the prime of his career, with a record of 12-0-1, 9KO, Henry was scheduled to fight on Showtime last November 16. However, he didn't feel well a few days before the fight and decided to visit his doctor. The diagnosis was something he never expected.
In a series of interviews with boxing websites following his public disclosure of the disease, Henry reported feeling blessed but that he was trying not to think too much about the future, saying that he had "a lot of mixed feelings." He continued, "Overall, I feel blessed. I'm living right now, but I've been taking it one day at at time because it makes my head hurt and body ache thinking too far ahead."
The promising young athlete passed away at the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized for the past three months.
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