Alabama Teenager Will Roberts Passes Away After Battle With Bone Cancer

We have some very sad news to share with you.

Will Roberts, the teenage boy from Alabama whose battle with bone cancer drew nationwide support, has passed away.

This brave young man was only 15 years old.

In a post on Facebook, his mother Brittany Battles Roberts announced that he took his final breath at 12:45 AM on Thursday morning while surrounded by family.

“Will is finally ringing his forever cancer free bell as he entered the gates of Heaven!” she said.

See here:

🇺🇸 Will Roberts, the 15-year-old Alabama boy who became known across the country for his unbreakable spirit while fighting cancer, has passed away.

He inspired thousands with his faith, positivity, and strength through every hard day.

Surrounded by family, he took his final…

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 23, 2026

Will Roberts, the 15-year-old Alabama boy who became known across the country for his unbreakable spirit while fighting cancer, has passed away.

He inspired thousands with his faith, positivity, and strength through every hard day.

Surrounded by family, he took his final breath just after midnight.

His mom said their story didn’t end, it just moved on to a new chapter.

One teenager who touched more lives than most ever will.

Rest easy, Will. You were stronger than most of us will ever know. 🙏

His mother’s full Facebook post reads:

Will is finally ringing his forever cancer free bell as he entered the gates of Heaven!!!

At 12:45am(central time)today, on my birthday, our precious Will took his final breath on this earth and entered the presence of Jesus.

Me, Jason, Charlie, granny, and my dad gathered around his bed and loved on him until the doctors could get everything together to prepare and remove the oxygen and increase sedation. Once that time came, me and Jason were the only ones with him when he took his last breath.

There isn’t a mother alive who could ever find the right words to write a post like this. I have stared at this screen, started over more times than I can count, and the truth is… there are no words big enough for a loss like this.

For the last year and a half, so many of you have walked this journey beside us. You have prayed when we didn’t have the strength. You celebrated every victory with us and cried through every setback. You loved Will like family, and we will spend the rest of our lives grateful for every single one of you.

Will was so much more than cancer.

Will was the funniest person in the room. Will had a personality that could light up a hospital floor. Will was stubborn enough to drive us crazy one minute and make us laugh the next. Will loved hard, fought harder, and never stopped believing there was another mountain to climb.

I have said from the beginning that God was going to use Will’s life for His glory. I still believe that today.

Over the last year and a half, we have watched complete strangers become family. We have watched churches across the country pray for a child they had never met. We have watched nurses become some of our closest friends. We have watched people come back to God, strengthen their faith, and believe in the power of prayer because of Will. That wasn’t an accident. God has been writing a story through Will that was always so much bigger than us.

Will fought until the cancer today showed more progression of disease in his brain effecting his mental capacity. Jason and I made a very selfless decision tonight to stop the suffering.

No child should have had to endure what Will endured. Yet every single day, Will found a reason to smile, crack a joke, encourage someone else, or remind us all what real strength looked like. Will never quit. Neither did we.

We prayed for healing every single day. We begged God for one more miracle. While our hearts desperately wanted healing here, God chose complete healing in Heaven.

What a beautiful gift that God gave me today on my birthday….a celebration that there is no more cancer and Will entered into the kingdom of Heaven!!! What better gift could I have received than to know my baby boy is sitting with Jesus and is cancer free….

As shattered as our hearts are tonight, I know exactly where Will is and he is not suffering. That is the only thing giving me the strength to write these words.

Thank you all for loving Will.

Thank you for praying. Thank you for believing. Thank you for carrying our family when we couldn’t carry ourselves.

Our story with Will didn’t end today. It simply changed chapters. We will spend the rest of our lives making sure the world knows who Will was, what God did through Will’s life, and how one fifteen-year-old changed more lives than most people ever will.

Until I see you again, Will…I love you more than words will ever be able to say. It has been the greatest honor of my life to be your mama.

I will later make a post on the gratitude that we have for the support of the staff at Rady’s Hospital. It’s unbelievable the support shown to us tonight and throughout our stay here. The love they’ve given us all.

Will’s cancer journey gained national attention after he posted a video online asking the Trump administration for help with getting an experimental treatment since his cancer was not responding to chemotherapy.

The Trump administration responded and helped fly Will and his family out to Los Angeles to access the treatment he needed.

Tuscaloosa News provided additional background:

Roberts was diagnosed in January of 2025 and underwent months of intensive treatment as doctors worked to fight the disease.

His treatments included chemotherapy and rotationplasty surgery, a complex limb-sparing procedure in which surgeons removed the middle portion of his lower left leg, rotated the remaining lower leg 180 degrees and reattached it so his angle could function as a knee joint for a prosthetic limb.

Despite treatment, the cancer continued to spread through his body.

Roberts’ story gained national attention in April after he posted a video on Facebook asking the public to help him reach President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In the video, Will explained that his cancer was no longer responding to chemotherapy and that he and his family were running out of options. He said he hoped an experimental treatment could provide another chance.

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After the public appeal gained attention, Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, contacted doctors developing the experimental treatment and helped connect them with Will’s medical team.

The connection allowed Roberts to access the treatment in early May.

Will’s death is rocking the nation.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey released a statement, saying he will be remembered as a “brave young man whose courage inspired us all.”

Read her full post here:

I am heartbroken to learn of the passing of young Will Roberts. Alabama will remember Will as a brave young man whose courage inspired us all. God has called him home, where he is healed and with our Savior. Join me in praying for the Roberts family during this unimaginable loss.

— Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) July 23, 2026

Sen. Tommy Tuberville also put out a call for prayers in a post on X:

Will fought to the finish and inspired millions of people across our country during his 15 years on earth.

Please join me in praying for the Roberts family and Will’s friends as they navigate this heartbreaking loss.https://t.co/AWEa7kpuL8

— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) July 23, 2026

A few days ago, Will’s family shared an update on his condition, along with some photos and videos from his hospital room.

Take a look:

The mother of Will Roberts, the Alabama boy fighting cancer, is asking everyone for prayers, says they are trying to keep Will comfortable.

Please pray for this family.

Read Brittney Battles Roberts' post from Facebook below:

"The biggest thing Will needs right now is a more… pic.twitter.com/khrxqWg2Ym

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 19, 2026

The mother of Will Roberts, the Alabama boy fighting cancer, is asking everyone for prayers, says they are trying to keep Will comfortable.

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Please pray for this family.

Read Brittney Battles Roberts’ post from Facebook below:

“The biggest thing Will needs right now is a more aggressive approach. He has so much fluid that has to come off, but at the same time they have to balance his blood counts and platelets so it can be done safely. Now pneumonia has also set up in his lungs, and that’s another battle we have to fight.

We’re not giving up.

Months ago, Will looked at us and said, “God is going to take me to the edge and make believers out of us.” Yesterday he looked at Jason and said, “Don’t give up on me, Dad.”

Those words matter.

Today Will became more agitated and wasn’t resting well. One option was to continue increasing his sedation. We understand why. Nobody wants him uncomfortable. But as his parents, we also know that when you’re sleeping more, not moving, and already dealing with fluid and weak lungs, pneumonia doesn’t just sit there. It gets worse.

Tonight, after he developed severe wheezing, we asked for an ICU doctor to come assess him.

He sat down with us, listened to everything, and explained that they could be more aggressive with removing fluid, treating the pneumonia, and still keep Will comfortable and safe. That’s what we needed to hear.

People ask us all the time what we’re praying for.

We’re not praying for more time at any cost. We’ve already told the doctors that if God says it’s time, then it’s time. We are at peace with that.

But we are also not willing to sit back and let something treatable take over without asking if there is more that can be done. If fluid can come off, we want it off. If pneumonia can be treated, we want it treated. If there’s a chance to make him more comfortable while still fighting what can be fought, that’s what we want.

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Whizzco

We’re okay with death if it comes while we’re trying.

Advocating at this level is new territory for us. We’ve never had to make decisions like this before. Every choice feels heavy, and we question ourselves constantly. But one thing we know is this…

Will asked us not to give up on him so that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

Please keep praying. Pray for wisdom. Pray for the ICU team. Pray they can safely remove this fluid, get this pneumonia under control, and keep Will comfortable through it all. And pray that Jason and I continue to have the strength to make the right decisions for our son.”