she captured hearts across the nation as she realized her dream to play for mount st joseph's women's basketball team in ohio and raised $15million   all while battling inoperable brain cancer and one of the millions lauren hill touched was lebron james, who posted an emotional farewell letter to the teenager via twitter on friday, just hours after she passed away from her rare tumor in the letter, the basketball star, dubbed king james, praised the 19 year old for the 'leadership', 'courage' and 'strength' she had shown while suffering from diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (dipg) james, 30, who had never actually met lauren, wrote: 'dear lauren hill, you are the true definition of strength, courage, power, leadership, etc etc! your time spent on earth will never be forgotten scroll down for video  farewell: lebron james (left) posted an emotional farewell letter to lauren hill via twitter on friday, just hours after the teenager passed away from terminal brain cancer right, lauren plays college basketball last year  praise: in the letter, james, 30, who had never actually met lauren, wrote: 'dear lauren hill, you are the true definition of strength, courage, power, leadership, etc etc! your time spent on earth will never be forgotten' 'you inspired me': he continued: 'i [hate] that i never got the chance to meet u in person but know you inspired me the whole time! for every life u touched, u made the biggest impact [on] them by just being you!! 'i [hate] that i never got the chance to meet u in person but know you inspired me the whole time! for every life u touched, u made the biggest impact [on] them by just being you!! 'you're in a far better place now and please don't have too much fun up there w/o all your family and friends can u please tell my grandma i said hello 'don't be afraid, she knows you cause we spoke about u plenty of times until we officially meet again, take care and continue to be that leader we all love! ‪#‎riplaurenhill' the cleveland cavaliers player signed off the letter   which was posted to his twitter page   'sincerely, lebron james' the letter has since been retweeted tens of thousands of times many users have deemed the tribute 'touching' and 'beautiful' one told james   who competed against the milwaukee bucks on wednesday night   that it 'was so sweet it brought me to tears' lauren, who was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer shortly after her 18th birthday, had repeatedly defied doctors' expectations after they told her that she would not live past december a touching tribute: james told lauren not to have 'too much fun up there without all your family and friends' 'tell my grandma i said hello': he added that he had spoken 'plenty of times' about lauren to his grandmother  #riplaurenhill: the cleveland cavaliers player signed off the letter   which was posted to his twitter page   'sincerely, lebron james' (pictured) the letter has since been retweeted tens of thousands of times  instead, the indiana native played four games with her team at mount st joseph university in cincinnati, and raised more than $15 million for research into the cancer she suffered from but as her condition worsened, the teenager became an honorary coach and earlier this year, she moved to cincinnati children's hospital she passed away at the hospital on friday morning as news of her death became public, thousands of people across the country   both basketball fans and not   took to social media to express their sorrow at her death, and show support for her family only a year and a half ago, lauren, whose cancer saw her rapidly gain weight, had been just another teenager preparing for college after deciding to play basketball for mount st joseph but a few weeks later, she started feeling dizzy while playing for her high school team in nearby lawrenceburg, indiana tests found her tumor and she was told she had less than two years left diagnosis: lauren is pictured left in december 2013, and right, in december 2014, after her treatment for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (dipg), a rare childhood brain cancer which changed her appearance  brave: lauren, who used her limited energy to inspire people and raise money for research into the cancer that ultimately took her life, is pictured in her room in cincinnati last december   months before she passed away  in september, doctors gave her the devastating news she wouldn't make it past december   and after years as a standout player, lauren's hopes of playing college basketball were put in jeopardy however, the ncaa granted permission to move the school's opening game forward because of her worsening condition on november 2, lauren realized her dream of playing for the school incredibly, she scored the first and last baskets of the team's 66 55 victory over hiram college diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (dipg) is a type of brain tumor found in the part of the brainstem at the lower back of the brain due to the tumor's location, it can cause double vision, difficulty controlling eye movement and facial expressions, and difficulty swallowing and chewing it may also cause weakness in the limbs the condition primarily affects children most often between the ages of four and nine between 100 and 150 new diagnoses are made a year in the us only 300 are made across north america and europe a year it can be treated with radiation, but chemotherapy is generally not effective and surgery is impossible due to the spread of the cancer into healthy tissue unlike with other childhood cancers, there has been little progress in improving treatments and cure rates for the condition over the last few decades fewer than 10 per cent of children with dipg survive two years after their diagnosis source: dipg registry  'it's a dream come true,' lauren told reporters at the time 'to play on a college court, to put my foot down on the floor and hear the roar of the crowd   i just love it so much i love basketball 'everything that happened today was amazing i'm truly happy, it's a really good day' at the game, lauren said she wanted to find a cure for the rare cancer, which has a less than 10 per cent survival rate and most often affects children aged four to nine 'when i was diagnosed i remember kind of feeling lonely because nobody understood,' she said following the game, usa today reported 'and now that more people know about this story and the awareness of dipg 'i'm so happy that people know about it now and that we can get some research going and hopefully find that home run cure for cancer and even though i'm probably not going to be around to see it, it's going to help a lot of people' lauren played in four games and made five layups before the spreading tumor made her stop when the season ended, her team held its annual dinner in the hospital where hill was being treated she was also honored at local sporting events and was featured on a box of wheaties   known as the breakfast of champions the us basketball writers association voted her the pat summitt most courageous award, which is normally awarded at the final four athletes from other colleges autographed no 22 jerseys   her number   and sent them in support as the cancer slowed her down, lauren's family, friends and teammates took a bigger role in promoting her fundraising campaign   and she kept reminding everyone to appreciate life 'life is precious,' she told wkrc tv before her death 'every moment you get with someone is a moment that's blessed, really blessed' final days: lauren is pictured enjoying easter (left) and st patrick's day (right) from hospital in cincinnati  fighter: the ncaa moved mount st joseph's first basketball game forward last november (pictured) so that lauren could achieve her dream of playing for collegiate basketball she scored the first and last baskets  the co founder of her nonprofit foundation confirmed lauren's death in hospital on friday 'through lauren's fundraising and advocacy efforts, she not only became a spotlight on the lack of funding for cancer research, but she most certainly has become a beacon guiding researchers for years to come,' the cure starts now co founder brooke desserich said her nonprofit foundation helped to raise more than $15 million for cancer research 'she's made an impact on the world, more so than me   more than i ever will do,' lauren's coach dan benjamin said 'i've gotten so many emails and phone calls from all over the world people are contacting me because they want to share her story' no information about a memorial has yet been released, but lawrenceburg schools superintendent karl galey said on twitter that schools will be prepared to assist staff and students with counseling heroic: lauren, pictured left, smiles at pat summitt after receiving the pat summitt award during halftime of her first ncaa college basketball game in november last year she went on to play four games for the school  dear lauren hill,  you are the true definition of strength, courage, power, leadership, etc etc! your time spent on earth will never be forgotten i [hate] that i never got the chance to meet u in person but know you inspired me the whole time! for every life u touched, u made the biggest impact [on] them by just being you!! you're in a far better place now and please don't have too much fun up there w/o all your family and friends can u please tell my grandma i said hello don't be afraid, she knows you cause we spoke about u plenty of times until we officially meet again, take care and continue to be that leader we all love! ‪#‎riplaurenhill sincerely,  lebron james 
15million 18 lauren lauren hill lebron james friday 19 cincinnati
lauren hill was diagnosed with an inoperable form of brain cancer aged 18  despite illness, she achieved dream to play college basketball in cincinnati  also raised a huge $15million for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma research  she died in hospital on friday, aged 19, after defying doctors' expectations  now, lebron james has penned a touching farewell letter to the teenager  in letter, he praises lauren for the 'leadership' and 'strength' she showed  basketball star tells her: 'you time spent on earth will never be forgotten'