Courtney Wagner, 18, dies of cancer after 4-year fight

Courtney Wagner takes a moment on the bench with her coach Michael Brennan before her senior night game. Courtney is battling cancer but got to score a basket in Canandaigua’s game against Brighton.

Sometime over the past week, as Courtney Wagner lay unconscious, cancer finally beginning to shut down her body, Jamie Wagner asked her daughter to send her “a sign that she was OK.”

“She already has,” Jamie Wagner wrote on Facebook Monday evening. “Go look at the beautiful moon and you will see her light shining still.”

A former Canandaigua Academy athlete whose four-year fight battle and fighting spirit inspired thousands, including talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres, died Monday

at 5:30 p.m., as darkness arrived and the moon brightened on a cool autumn evening.

She was 18.

Courtney Wagner’s family urges others to share love

Jamie Wagner posted the message on the “Courtney Kicking Cancer” Facebook page, which has more than 30,000 “Likes.” She wrote that Courtney was at home and surrounded by her family when she passed.

“Our sweet Courtney went to heaven,” her mother wrote. “She died as generously as she lived. Courtney waited until the very moment that her brothers, sisters, parents, and grandmother were with her.”

Wagner was a freshman at William Smith College in Geneva and on its soccer team, which has worn T-shirts this fall that read “Courtney’s Crew.”

Eight days ago she was well enough to talk and visit with family and friends at home even though she was only awake about three hours each day. By last Tuesday, she’d started to slip away.

“Courtney has not spoken a word today,” her mother wrote then.

Wagner gets moment on court while fighting cancer

A former soccer and basketball player in high school, Wagner stopped going to her college classes in early September because of severe neck pain. An MRI revealed significant progression of disease, as tumors in her neck and back that had been abated by radiation were spreading. Extensive treatment that had aided her fight, which started with a golf-sized brain tumor in 2011, was failing.

Her story went public in February initially when she was allowed to make the first basket on Canandaigua basketball’s “Senior Night,” against Brighton. Her coach, Mike Brennan, orchestrated that. Wagner was healthy enough to play in several soccer matches last fall, but her symptoms worsened over the winter and she didn’t play basketball. The Rochester RazorSharks men’s professional basketball team also gave Wagner a special day on March 1, allowing her to make the first basket at one of their games at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.

Courtney Wagner plays for Razorsharks

That social media push and hashtag #GetCourtneyToEllen became a powerful tool in helping Wagner experience arguably the biggest moment of her life. It happened March 3. Word about DeGeneres being her favorite comedian found its way to the star and Wagner and her mother were flown to Los Angeles. Courtney thought they were simply going to be in the audience and watch a taping of the popular show. But her mother knew about the surprise, which was DeGeneres calling her on stage, interviewing her and presenting her with some gifts.

The United States women’s soccer team, led by another former area high school athlete, Mercy High graduate Abby Wambach, also sent a video message to Wagner that aired on Ellen show. A few years ago, Wagner attended one of Wambach’s soccer camps held at Victor High School and met the international star and soccer’s all-time leading scorer.

Those few weeks were a whirlwind for Wagner, especially the trip to meet DeGeneres. “It was almost like a dream,” Courtney said a day later at the Greater Rochester International Airport upon on her return.

Last week, her family urged those who have supported Wagner to be shared with others. They knew Courtney’s journey was close to its end.

“Courtney has had joys and sorrows just like anyone else,” Jamie Wagner said last week. “She got to go to college, which is a goal she set for herself. A lot of people loved and supported her and helped her get there, just like they have for everything. Really, our message is to please share that love with other people.”

JDIVERON@Gannett.com