Florida teen who took NFL player to prom dies
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jaguars defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks helps 18-year-old Khameyea Jennings, a cancer patient at Wolfson Children's Hospital, walk down her steps at home on the way to her senior prom. (Bob Mack/The Florida Times-Union)
The Florida teen whose dream came true when an NFL player escorted her to the prom has died, hospital officials announced Friday.
Khameyea Jennings, 18, of Jacksonville, who was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2013, died Thursday, the Florida Times-Union reported, citing Wolfson Children’s Hospital spokesman Cindy Hamilton.
Earlier this month, Jennings went to her prom with Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks. The pair wore matching white and gold formalwear and drove to the Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology prom in Marks’ Lamborghini.
Marks, flowers in hand, had visited Jennings in April at Wolfson, where she was undergoing treatment, and asked the teen to prom after the nonprofit Dreams Come True approached the Jaguars about the prom invitation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“She said this is a day to be normal.”
Marks said at the time he jumped at the chance to make a difference in Jennings’ life.
Jennings' mother said the teen enjoyed the opportunity to attend prom without having to worry about her cancer treatments.
“She said this is a day to be normal,” Laquandra Jennings told the Times-Union at the time, “not to have to worry about needles, chemo, potassium levels. Just a day to be a teenager and enjoy the prom.”
“I really want to make a difference,” Marks said on prom night. “I want to do something where you actually make someone’s day, to make a difference in someone’s life.”
Jennings’ friends and family offered messages of support after her death on Facebook.
No information about funeral services was made public.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.