WASHINGTON — The young man responsible for the “Zaching” pose that went viral in 2012, has lost his battle with brain cancer.
Zach Lederer, a former student manager with the University of Maryland basketball team, died on Tuesday. In the spring of 2012, he flexed his biceps defiantly in his hospital bed after an operation. The photo went viral, and thousands of people, including celebrities, showed support by following suit:
The Baltimore Sun says that Lederer posed for the picture right after he came out of a successful brain surgery at Johns Hopkins.
But the cancer, which Lederer had beaten in childhood, came back yet again, and Lederer left the university to undergo treatment.
The Diamondback, the Maryland student newspaper, says that Maryland basketball coach Mark Turgeon said in a statement that “Zach was an outstanding young man who was an inspiration to us all. He had a great passion for life and was a true fighter.”
A vigil was scheduled for Tuesday night outside the Comcast Center.
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