He has a special story and connection to the Boilermakers.
On Saturday night, at kickoff of the Purdue Boilermakers’ homes game against No. 2 Ohio State, the home crowd collectively did a chant to honor a very special young man: Tyler Trent, a Purdue student and diehard Boilermaker fan who has terminal cancer.
CANCER SUCKS. #Purdue student section replacing the traditional IU sucks chant at kickoff with cancer sucks in honor of @theTylerTrent and others like him battling the disease. Pretty cool. #TylerStrongpic.twitter.com/D4GT5t0xLA
— Taylor Tannebaum (@TaylorTannebaum) October 20, 2018
The chant was planned ahead of time:
Let's do it for @theTylerTrent@rossadebrigade@LifeAtPurdue#BoilerUp / #TylerStrongpic.twitter.com/g3ZHseRJZp
— Purdue Athletics (@PurdueSports) October 17, 2018
Tyler’s connection to the Purdue football program is really special.
He was first diagnosed with bone cancer when he was 15 years old. He went into remission in the spring of 2015, but two years later the cancer returned. Still, he decided to attend Purdue as a freshman last fall while receiving treatment. He became a Purdue celebrity after he camped out for the Michigan game last season and met head coach Jeff Brohm:
@JeffBrohm just decided to stop by our camp-out! What a honor to be able to meet him! @BoilerFootball@purdueexponent#BeatMichiganpic.twitter.com/lkT1nBW824
— Tyler Trent (@theTylerTrent) September 23, 2017
Here’s more on Trent’s Purdue stardom from the Journal and Courier:
He’s been on a whirlwind journey to help raise money for cancer projects while being Purdue’s No. 1 student fan.
He led the Boilermakers onto the field prior to the season opener against Northwestern as an honorary captain. Purdue’s volleyball team supported Trent with “TylerStrong warmups at a recent match.
Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney reached out during the last year. In June, he was honored at the National Football Foundation’s honors dinner in West Lafayette, where he received the Patrick Mackey Courage Award.
He attended last year’s Purdue-Iowa game in Iowa City to take part in the tradition of waving to patients at the Children’s Hospital at the end of the first quarter.
Turn on @CollegeGameDay now. @theTylerTrent’s inspirational story about to unfold. pic.twitter.com/fegkHaJFfL
— Purdue Football (@BoilerFootball) October 20, 2018
Late last month, Trent thought returning to Purdue wouldn’t happen.
His condition took a turn for the worst.
update: I'm sad to say I will not be making it back to #Purdue. My health has taken a turn for the worse and the level of care I now need is too great. While I may not know how many days I have left, I'm trusting the one who does! #onlythestrong#boilerforlife#godsgotthis
— Tyler Trent (@theTylerTrent) September 29, 2018
“I do want to give a shout out to Tyler Trent, a Boilermaker for life and is experiencing some hard times now,” Brohm said shortly after Trent’s announcement. “He’s a huge fan of ours and this university and we’re hoping all the best for him and we’re praying for him. Hopefully, everything goes in a good direction.”
Purdue’s football team visited Trent, too:
Delivering the #GameBall from yesterday’s win to our team captain - @theTylerTrent! #BoilerUp#LetsPlayFootball@mb_boiler21@blockknox1@david_blough10@ElijahSindelar@KirkBarron73pic.twitter.com/7U5kyPcdLn
— Purdue Football (@BoilerFootball) September 30, 2018
But before the Ohio State game, Trent got the go-ahead to make it back to Purdue:
WE ARE INDEED A FULL GO. #BoilerUp
— Tyler Trent (@theTylerTrent) October 20, 2018
Preparing for the game tonight! #BoilerUp#OnlyTheStrongpic.twitter.com/8GFTHKVO3f
— Tyler Trent (@theTylerTrent) October 20, 2018
Thank you Purdue, for making this young man’s story so very special. Stay strong, Trent, we’re all pulling for you!