Carolina Panthers’ former linebacker Dean Wells has died after a two-year battle with most cancers. He was 54.

Wells, who performed within the NFL for almost a decade, died on Wednesday, April 3, reported the Carolina Panthers.

In addition to the Panthers, the skilled athlete additionally performed for the Seattle Seahawks, which he was drafted into in 1993. Previous to his NFL profession, he performed for the College of Kentucky throughout his faculty soccer profession. Wells retired from skilled soccer in 2001.

Wells was identified with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in early 2023 and commenced chemotherapy. In keeping with the Mayo Clinic, ALL is a sort of most cancers within the blood and bone marrow and is “a illness that progresses quickly and creates immature blood cells, slightly than mature ones.”

Following months of chemo remedy, Wells’ most cancers initially went into remission earlier than he later obtained the information within the fall that it had returned.

Wells spoke about his most cancers battle with sports activities outlet KSR in April 2024.

“Present me who to sort out and I can try this,” Wells instructed the outlet. “That is within the medical doctors’ arms and it’s in God’s arms.”

In the identical interview, Wells shared particulars of the help he had been receiving from these round him and the way he was making an attempt to remain optimistic amid the tough analysis.

“So many teammates have reached out. ‘You’re one of many hardest guys I’ve ever met. I do know you’ll beat this,’” he stated. “There’s psychological toughness that comes into it. It’s important to have a optimistic angle which you could beat it. I’ve accomplished every thing that I can with that. It’s just like the chemo both works or it doesn’t. You simply don’t have a whole lot of management over it. You would like you had extra management.”

Wells added that he discovered his optimistic outlook from his mom.

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“Usually talking, my mom was a really optimistic particular person and I believe she sort of rubbed off on me in that regard,” he added. “Not that I’m not scared and every thing else you’ll anticipate with the opportunity of dying, however you continue to gotta discover a approach to get pleasure from daily and keep optimistic.”

In accordance the Carolina Panthers, Wells spent a lot of the final yr of his life elevating consciousness about assist in the battle towards most cancers, together with encouraging folks to donate blood, donate to most cancers analysis initiatives and to hitch the bone marrow registry.

Wells is survived by his spouse Lisa and two sons.