Gamecocks send support to Clemson, Bryan Bresee after death of his sister

Condolences and support messages poured in on social media Thursday following the death of Ella Bresee, the younger sister of Clemson defensive lineman Bryan Bresee.

The South Carolina football program was among those to post a message of support on social media.

“Heartbreaking. Our thoughts are with Bryan, his family, and all of @ClemsonFB,” the Gamecocks posted to their football Twitter page.

Bryan Bresee posted on Instagram that his younger sister, Ella, who’d been fighting a rare form of brain cancer, died Thursday morning. She was 15 years old.

Clemson planned to honor Ella during last weekend’s home opener against Furman. Those plans changed when Ella, 15, who’d been in town all week and addressed the team, had a “setback” that required her to visit a local emergency room last Friday and get airlifted back to the Washington, D.C., area before last Saturday’s game at Memorial Stadium, per coach Dabo Swinney.

Bryan played in Clemson’s 35-12 win against Furman, recording two tackles, and spoke with the media before returning home to Maryland later that night.

Clemson hosts Louisiana Tech this Saturday.

Bresee has talked openly about his younger sister’s battle with medulloblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, and Clemson’s ongoing support of him and his family since her early 2021 diagnosis.

The former No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2020 wore long white strips reading “Ella Strong” on the back of his arms during the 2021 season and got a new tattoo featuring the same phrase, a rose and the Roman numerals of his younger sister’s birthday.

— The State’s Chapel Fowler contributed to this story