BATON ROUGE — Former LSU soccer player Robyn DesOrmeaux, who earned four letters as the team’s starting goalkeeper from 2001-04, died Thursday following a six-year battle with cancer. She was 27.
DesOrmeaux enjoyed an outstanding career with the Tigers as she ranks among the all-time greats to ever wear the purple and gold. She is LSU’s all-time leader with 28 wins during her four-year career, while she also ranks No. 3 in school history with 183 career saves and 13.5 career shutouts.
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She started 50 of 58 games during her collegiate career while earning First-Team All-Louisiana honors in 2002 from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and being named LSU’s Defensive MVP in 2003.
DesOrmeaux died early Thursday morning following a courageous six-year battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer that is commonly found in the pelvis. She was diagnosed with the disease on Nov. 11, 2004, in the weeks after completing her athletic eligibility at LSU.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Robyn and her family during this difficult time,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “She was an LSU Tiger through and through. Robyn has been an inspiration to us all through her courageous fight and her strength will endure forever. We can all draw upon her example to live each day with 109 percent effort in whatever we do.”
When DesOrmeaux was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, she was given only a 10 percent chance to live five years. That’s when she decided to fight the disease with 109 percent effort each and every day for the rest of her life, combining her jersey No. 99 with the 10 percent chance of survival given by her doctors.
“I didn’t like that number. It’s not really a fun number to think about,” DesOrmeaux said in an interview with The Daily Reveille on Nov. 17, 2006. “My jersey number was 99, so I decided to add that 10 to my jersey number to give me a little extra boost. I gave myself a 109 percent chance of survival.”
Despite her prognosis, DesOrmeaux persevered and graduated from LSU in 2006 with a degree in general studies, and she always committed herself to fighting the disease.
DesOrmeaux’s story has touched the lives of countless people over the last five years and she is sure to be an inspiration in the years ahead. She was featured in a national broadcast of “FSN Across America” aired by Fox Sports Net on April 30, 2005, which was broadcast in 78 million homes nationwide during the 30-minute telecast. It was originally aired as part of the Southwest Sports Report on FSN-Southwest.
She also received the Eye of the Tiger Award as presented by the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes for her inspirational story while completing her course work at LSU.
Fans who wish to assist the DesOrmeaux family with medical bills and funeral expenses can donate to the Robyn DesOrmeaux Donations Trust Account at any Chase Bank location.
Funeral services will be held at Melancon’s Chapel at 4117 North University Ave. on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Visitation will be held Saturday from 2-10 p.m. with rosary at 7 p.m.