Former Ohio State Buckeye Announces Heartbreaking Medical Diagnosis

Avery Henry was a 3-star recruit from Saint Clairsville, Ohio who committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes as part of the 2022 class. He came into OSU as a 6-foot-6, 305 pound offensive tackle with plenty of potential because of his size alone.

Henry signed his letter of intent in December of 2021 and was enrolled and on campus in time for fall camp of 2022. Unfortunately, in December of 2022, at the tail end of his freshman campaign, Henry was forced to retire from the game due to a bone cancer diagnosis.

He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and had to undergo surgery that removed three inches of of bone from his right arm. He also lost part of his ulnar nerve, which meant he lost feeling in part of that hand and can't fully move some of those fingers.

That never caused him to give up, though. Even though he had to grapple with the idea of not playing football again, he never lost hope.

“When they told me I wasn't gonna be able to do it, I said, ‘No, I'm going to do it. You don't know who I am,’” Henry told Eleven Warriors in February of 2024. “I'm going to push myself to extremes. I'm gonna do whatever I can. If that means possibly playing football one day again, you better believe I'm gonna take the chance. So it pushes me to the extreme, with grades, with everything. I mean, I'm a straight-A student now. It's realizing that anything can go at any moment. Never wasting opportunities.”

Henry has never made it back onto the field, but that bad news paled in comparison to the good news he announced in May of 2023: That he was cancer free.

Unfortunately, there's now a new update from the big man nearly two years later. He remains optimistic, but he appears to be dealing with another health scare.

"I’ve debated sharing this, but 6 months ago my doctors found a growing lung nodule. After monitoring it, they’ve decided surgery is the best option," Henry wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "Tomorrow I’ll undergo a 4–5 hour procedure. I know how this sounds, but I truly believe god does everything for a reason. God has me! The man I am and the man I’m becoming is shaped by His grace. This is just a stepping stone on the path to becoming the strong, wise leader I’ve always prayed to be."

If the fighting spirit Henry has displayed throughout this whole process is any indication, he's going to be on track toward putting this setback behind him sooner rather than later.

Henry was the No. 58 offensive tackle recruit in the country in 2022, according to the 247Sports Composite.