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UTEP TE Luke Laufenberg passes away after battle with rare form of cancer
By Paul Harvey
Published:
The college football world tragically lost a young player Thursday.
Luke Laufenberg was a tight end at UTEP who previously spent time at Texas A&M. Unfortunately, he passed away Thursday morning at the age of 21 after a battle with cancer.
According to Kevin Flaherty with 247Sports, Laufenberg was battling a rare form of cancer known as Burkitt leukemia. It is described as a rare, fast-growing form of blood cancer.
Laufenberg was originally diagnosed late in 2017 and received positive news after treatment in May of 2018. He was expected to play this season at UTEP. Unfortunately, the cancer returned earlier this year.
Luke’s father, Babe, shared the heartbreaking news on Twitter:
Today we lost a son, a brother, a friend, and a warrior. Have never seen a person battle like Luke Laufenberg, but he lost his fight with cancer. He was truly inspirational. The hole in our hearts will never be filled. You are my hero. RIP my sweet Luke. See you on the other side pic.twitter.com/HF1xfw19Xi
— Babe Laufenberg (@BabeLaufenberg) August 22, 2019
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Laufenberg family during this tough time.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.