Nebraska Recruit Victor Stachmus Dies of Leukemia

Victor Stachmus, 19, a Nebraska football scholarship winner last year, died early today at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for leukemia, a Nebraska football coach said.

Stachmus, who was from McAlester, Okla., had been hospitalized for two weeks in the UCLA center for chemotherapy treatments. He had been transferred there from the M. D. Anderson Medical facility in Houston, where he had been receiving treatments since September.

“Victor has shown a great amount of courage and was at peace with himself when he died,” Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said. “It was a very tragic situation, but his spirit was high. It is unfortunate that he never did get to play at Nebraska, because it was something he really wanted to do.”

Stachmus died at 1:30 a.m. PST, according to Nebraska assistant football coach Ron Brown.

sh First Oklahoman to Sign

Stachmus, who graduated from McAlester High School last spring, was the first Oklahoma high school recruit to sign a national letter of intent with Nebraska. He was admitted to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Okla., last April, when it was discovered he had leukemia.

After a month of hospitalization last spring, doctors said Stachmus’ disease was in remission, and he planned to enroll at Nebraska this semester.

A week ago, Stachmus received more than 1,600 cards and letters from Nebraska football fans who participated in a “Go Big Vic,” campaign to let him know that Cornhusker fans still thought of him.

“The Stachmus family and the coaching staff at the University of Nebraska would like to thank all the people for their cards and prayers during Victor’s hospital stay,” Osborne said.

“His mother said Victor told her before he passed away that he was spiritually ready to die and that was a great comfort for the family,” said Brown.

“He was a very wonderful young man,” said Allen Wadsworth, Stachmus’ high school football coach and McAlester’s athletic director.