Anthony Negrin, 19, died Tuesday at his home in Bradenton, FL after a lifelong battle with a rare blood disorder, Fanconi anemia.

An avid basketball, tennis and violin player at Bradenton Christian School, his fight for life in the past three years attracted the attention of the community, which rallied around him with fundraisers. I am proud that Anthony was a part of the Dick Vitale V Foundation Gala last year.

Anthony endured three bone marrow transplants since 2006. Fanconi anemia prevents bone marrow from making life-sustaining hemoglobin for red blood cells.

Family and friends, including his father, Sergio Sr., mother Roxanne, brothers, Sergio Jr., 24, and twins Jordan and Jonathan, 18, grandmother Ana Rosa and family friend Nathan Tuttle were with him at the closing moments of his life.