He’s only at the beginning of his third year in high school and Newburgh Free Academy West junior Semaj Branch has already been through more than many people twice his age.
He was in sixth grade when his mother was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer and he found himself taking care of not only year, but also his younger sister as well. His mother died during his freshman year, on April 26, 2019.
His ability to overcome his personal tragedy has put him in the running for the USA Football Heart of a Giant Award.
“It means a lot,” Branch said. “For me, it means I’m able to put my story out there and that means a lot to me.”
He was nominated by Newburgh Free Academy football coach Bill Bianco, who said even though Branch is a good football player, good enough to start on the varsity team as a sophomore, this award was not about his ability on the field.

“Dealing with things a lot of kids his age haven’t had to deal with, he’s done a great job pushing through it,” Bianco said. “I know I never had to deal with it, and I think his resiliency and ability to move forward and make something of himself in light of what happened. Looking at him, what he’s dealt with, he’s an inspiration.”
The award is based on four categories: commitment, character, teamwork, dedication.
Branch learned from his mother, who would overreact to things he saw as small, to teach him life lessons, and tell him how important his future was. During that time, she had three surgeries, two on her breast and one on her brain. At the same time, he also took care of his grandmother, who suffered from dementia, and a sister that is eight years younger.
“To be honest, I really don’t know how I got through it,” Branch said. “I guess I was just going through day by day.”
In December of 2018, his great-grandmother died in his family’s home and he watched her take her final breath with the family sitting by her side. Two months later, his mother’s health started to decline and on April 15, after staying home from school to put his sister on the bus, his mother said she couldn’t breathe.
He called the ambulance and told her everything would be OK. Two days later, he had a fateful decision to make: his mother could either live on a machine the rest of her life, or he could take her off life support.
He had to make that decision at 15 years old.
He chose to pull the plug, a decision he said runs through his head all the time.
For two weeks after, Branch barely left his bedroom to a point where he couldn’t play baseball, but he was working out with the football team during his offseason work.
“I played baseball because of my mom so I stopped playing because it reminded me of my mom too much,” Branch said.
During this time, and even after he had one sanctuary.
“What got me through was basically sports,” Branch said. “Sports was my escape from my problems at home.”
He was a member of the varsity football team last season, didn’t start the first two games, but got his first start in Week 3, the Pink Out game against Washingtonville.
“That whole day, I didn’t talk to anybody, I just stayed to myself. I just wanted to play.”
He also had a special pair of cleats that had a picture of himself and his mother and written in pink, “Always 3, RIP, Mommy.”
Three because his parents weren’t together, and although his dad supported his mother, Branch, his mother and sister made up an unbreakable trio.
His mother’s illness set Branch on the path he’s on now and he’s grown from it. As his mother’s health slowly declined, he took heed of the lessons his mother taught him and said he learned that there’s more to life than “hanging around”.
“I feel like anything that comes my way, I can take head on,” Branch said. “I feel like it set my mind right at the time and now I just look back on it as a lesson.”
There’s also more to Branch than football. He makes custom T-shirts for people who want to place special orders. He can print all types of designs and lettering to meet each customer’s needs.
He started in seventh grade. He took eighth grade to focus on sports, but when his grandmother died in 2018, he started doing it again. He made over 1,000 T-shirts during the month of December.
During 10th grade, he got an internship, “I got into Custom T-shirt design and internship at Hip Hop Heaven in Newburgh,” said Branch.
“It was a good internship,” Branch said. “The only stressful part was missing practice on Thursdays when we had a game on Friday.”
Branch is one of 60 athletes nominated for the award and voting is open through Nov. 1. Eleven finalists will receive $1,000 equipment grant for their high school football programs and one grand prize winner will receive an additional $4,000 equipment grant for his high school football program.
“I think Semaj is one of the most resilient students I have ever met during my career as a school counselor,” NFA West Guidance Counselor Lakeya Stukes said. “He’s one of the most resilient students at NFA West. I think he has used his experiences with his family to drive his motivations to be successful. I think that’s evident on the field. I think that’s evident on the basketball court. I believe he uses all that his mom taught him to fuel him to be successful. We see that across academics and his extracurricular activities. He talks about using these experiences to honor his mother and that makes me super proud of him.”