Lacrosse Starter Loses Battle with Leukemia

Alyssa Oxenford Photo Courtesy / ESU Warriors
Alyssa Oxenford
Photo Courtesy / ESU Warriors

By Kathleen Kraemer
Editor-in-Chief

Former ESU lacrosse player Alyssa Oxenford, 22, lost her battle with Leukemia on Aug. 22.
Oxenford completed her junior year as a health and physical education major at ESU in May 2014 just before was diagnosed with Leukemia in May 2014.

She was a graduate of North Penn High School where she earned two letters in lacrosse before coming to attend ESU.

At ESU, she played lacrosse as a starting defender for three years and 49 games before her diagnosis.

After her diagnosis, Oxenford was unable to continue her career at ESU but support from her ESU community was persistent.

ESU hosted “Be The Match,” a bone marrow registry drive, on Dec. 5 2014 in support of Oxenford.

“Be The Match” is meant to benefit the thousands of individuals diagnosed every year with Leukemia and similar blood cancers by providing them with the “largest and most diverse marrow registry in the world.”

“Alyssa enjoyed life to the fullest, from being an aunt to zip lining through the rainforest in Costa Rica, four wheeling on North Carolina Beaches, or playing soccer and lacrosse. She will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her. Her friends and family were the story of her life,” stated Oxenford’s obituary.

In lieu of flowers for her funeral, Oxenford’s family asked that donations be made in her honor to the University of Pennsylvania Health System where she had been treated.

Email Kathleen at:
kkraemer2@live.esu.edu