Bryan Bresee’s sister dies after cancer battle. Clemson community mourning loss
Ella Bresee, the younger sister of Clemson football player Bryan Bresee who’d been fighting a rare form of brain cancer, has died, Bresee wrote Thursday morning on Instagram. She was 15 years old.
“My beautiful sister Ella you amazed me every single day with the fight that you put up and how joyful you were constantly through this battle,” Bresee wrote. “Never did I think I would be sitting here today saying bye to you.”
“I want to thank you for bringing happiness to not only me but so many people. You are the best sister a brother could ask for and I know for a fact heaven has gained a beautiful angel today. Love you forever and always Ella bear.”
Clemson planned to honor Ella during last weekend’s home opener against Furman.
Those plans changed when Ella, 15, who’d been in town all week and addressed the team, had a “setback” that required her to visit a local emergency room last Friday and get airlifted back to the Washington, D.C., area before last Saturday’s game at Memorial Stadium, per head coach Dabo Swinney.
“Our prayers continue to be with the entire Bresee family,” Swinney said Thursday in a statement. “We are all so appreciative of all of the love and support that has been shown by the Clemson Family and so many others during this time. Ella was such a sweet spirit, and her spirit will continue to live on throughout the Bresee family and everyone who had the opportunity to know her. I am stronger today for having experienced Ella’s strength and courage.”
Bryan played in Clemson’s 35-12 win against Furman, recording two tackles, and spoke with the media before returning home to Maryland later that night. Swinney said Tuesday he’s “not sure” if Bresee will play in Clemson’s Saturday home game against Louisiana Tech.
“Not sure right now,” Swinney said. “He’ll play if he wants to play, but he’s got more important things to focus on right now other than football. A lot more important things than the game of football for that young man right now.”
A standout defensive tackle, Bresee has talked openly about his younger sister’s battle with medulloblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, and Clemson’s ongoing support of him and his family since her early 2021 diagnosis.
The former No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2020 wore long white strips reading “Ella Strong” on the back of his arms during the 2021 season and got a new tattoo featuring the same phrase, a rose and the Roman numerals of his younger sister’s birthday.
Bryan, 20, also drew inspiration from Ella in his own recovery process from a torn left ACL that cut his sophomore season short at four games (he’s since made a full recovery). Through frequent in-person and phone conversations, Ella was a “huge help,” Bresee said in August.
“It just tells you to keep going,” he said. “She’s my little sister, but she’s also a little girl with so much on her plate right now. Whatever I’m going through isn’t half as bad as what she’s going through … she encourages me all the time.”
Being ‘Ella Strong’
“Ella Strong” became a rallying cry and hashtag for Clemson football through 2021, and the program planned to honor Ella, who Swinney calls “the toughest Bresee in that entire family,” against Furman. Around 100 friends and family members converged upon Clemson leading into last week’s home opener.
Though Ella ultimately couldn’t make the game, Clemson still honored her by wearing “E11A STRONG” T-shirts — which replaced the two L’s in her name with Bresee’s No. 11 jersey number — during its pregame Tiger Walk. Speaking postgame, Bresee described it as “super special.”
“This team has been my support system down here when I’m not at home,” he said. “They’ve been here for me ever since this started a little over a year ago.”
Teammates in recent days have reinforced that message.
“I hope that our win today just sent Ella a message that we have her back,” linebacker Barrett Carter said Saturday. “She has 135 brothers on this team … everything that we did today, everything that we do continuously this season is all for her, all for Ella.”
“I love Ella, I love the Bresee family and I love my brother Bryan,” quarterback DJ Uiagalelei said Monday. “That’s like my best friend right there … It’s emotional talking about them with the stuff going on right now, but I love that family.”
Bresee on Saturday described his younger sister as “super outgoing and just a good person to be around. She’s super positive no matter what’s going on. She just brings a smile to my face whenever I’m around her.”
On Thursday, the University of South Carolina was among those sending messages of support to Bresee and the Tigers.
“Heartbreaking. Our thoughts are with Bryan, his family, and all of @ClemsonFB,” the Gamecocks posted to their football Twitter page.
This story was originally published September 15, 2022 at 6:05 AM.
