Beloved SMITE Player David “Allied” Hance Has Passed Away

After a brief stay in hospice following a years-long battle with gastro-esophageal cancer, SMITE pro player and popular streamer David “Allied” Hance passed away a few hours ago. 

In one of his last tweets on April 29, Allied revealed that he had been admitted to the hospital with a very small chance of making it out again. He also mentioned making the decision to sign a DNR form should that turn out to be the case. 

There was little more activity after the tweet was posted, and updates were only made available through his girlfriend, Michelle (@chellastro). Early on May 2nd, we learned that he was in hospice and heavily sedated with his loved ones by his side. But a reddit thread posted by his manager and close friend this morning confirmed that Allied passed away:

“…David “Allied” Hance is no longer with us. As some of you know, I was his mamanger/editor, but I was also one of his closest friends.

I was one of the only people to visit him in the hospital, so I have seen his pain, his scars…He didn’t deserve to go through all that pain, to constantly be depressed. Even though he was one of the strongest guys out there, I’m glad he’s no longer in pain…”

This news has deeply shaken the SMITE community, as many thought that he was cancer-free just a few months ago. After his initial cancer diagnosis in 2015, Allied retired from the competitive scene and tried his hand at both casting and streaming SMITE. Over the next two years, he went in and out of remission several times. But it looked like he was on the up and up — so much so that he briefly came out of retirement for Season 4 earlier this year as a substitute for Luminosity. But a rapid decline in his condition kept him from participating in LANs and some other events. 

Around this time last year, the SMITE community banded together during Hi-Rez Studios’ Spring Fling charity stream to raise money for Allied’s cancer treatments — and successfully accumulated about $100,000 to help fund his medical care. Now, both Hi-Rez Studios and the SMITE community at large are showing their support in a far more trying time. 

Allied’s pro team, Luminosity, is selling his jersey and donating the profits to cancer research. DMBrandon and many other SMITE personalities are also promoting Allied’s T-Shirt on Teespring to raise money for the player’s family. 

Hi-Rez Studios has yet to comment, but we’re certain they will send their condolences to the family and putting something together for the community. For right now, any player who wants to pick up an Allied avatar can do so by typing #alliedstrong into their redeem code menu.

Our hearts go out to Allied’s family and the SMITE community as a whole. He may be gone, but we will never forget that he was #AlliedStrong.