The Ohio State Buckeyes family suffered a significant loss last week, as offensive lineman Avery Henry took to Twitter to announce his retirement from football due to an ongoing battle with Osteosarcoma cancer.
According to the National Center for Biotechnical Information (NCBI), Osteosarcoma cancer “is the most common primary bone malignancy that affects children and young adults… characterized by a high degree of malignancy, strong invasiveness, rapid disease progression, and extremely high mortality rate…”
Ohio State football head coach Ryan Day, addressing Henry’s announcement at Big Ten Media Day, says that “he’s still part of the program. He’s still with the team, you know, just like we have a couple other guys like that. He’s got a whole team that’s gonna behind him.”
“He's in remission,” Day adds, “which is great, but, you know, there’s still a lot of things that come with that. And so, we’re very, very proud of him for fighting; for really living our culture of the fight. We're going to see him here in the fall and he's still going to be a part of it the best he can.”
Article Continues BelowRyan Day said Ohio State offensive lineman Avery Henry, who recently beat Osteosarcoma cancer, had to have a procedure done that will "make it virtually impossible to play football [again]." He said Avery is still with the team and his fight will inspire his teammates this year. pic.twitter.com/vWgq05k5rf
— Justin Holbrock (@JustinHolbrock) July 26, 2023
“It was something that was really fast when it happened and it was hard,” Day explained of the procedure that makes it “virtually impossible” for Henry to play football again. “It was really hard on him and his mom. But I think they felt like it was a blessing to be at Ohio State to have the James (Cancer Hospital and Research Institute) right there to be able to be in his dorm and go get his treatment.”
A St. Clairsville, OH native, Henry was a three-star prospect in 2022 and a top-50 offensive tackle in the country.
He chose Ohio State over Iowa State, Akron, West Virginia, Syracuse and Eastern Michigan.