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Owasso community rallies around former wrestler Tanea Brooks in ALS battle

Posted: Sep 7th 2026 By: Bailey Coyle

For Tanea Brooks, the hardest part of living with ALS is losing her independence.

“One day I can feed myself, the next week I cannot,” Brooks said. “One week I can roll myself over in bed, the next I cannot.”

Brooks, who grew up in Owasso and graduated from Owasso High School, has spent much of her life in the spotlight.

She cheered for the Dallas Cowboys from 1998 to 2001 and later became a professional wrestler known as “Rebel” in All Elite Wrestling, or AEW.

But in 2024, Brooks stepped away from wrestling after she was hospitalized as she began experiencing a series of symptoms that doctors struggled to explain.

After receiving several diagnoses over the course of two years, Brooks was diagnosed with primary pulmonary lymphoma in November 2025.

After months of not getting better, Brooks decided to go to Mayo Clinic.

Then, during lung surgery in March 2026, Mayo Clinic doctors diagnosed her with ALS.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a progressive disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movement.

As those nerve cells deteriorate, muscles gradually weaken. People living with ALS can lose the ability to walk, talk, eat and eventually breathe, while often remaining aware of what is happening.

There is currently no cure for ALS, and researchers continue working to better understand the disease and develop treatments.

Now, she is using the platform she built through wrestling to raise awareness about the disease.

“Honestly, just to know what it is,” Brooks said when asked what she wishes more people understood about ALS. “And the need for research.”

Brooks said the disease has taken away more of her independence over time, leaving her grieving something different every day, week and month.

“Things don’t get better. They only get worse,” she said. “But I know I have to remain positive. That’s the only way to get through this.”

She said her faith in God, along with the love and support of her friends, family, fans and AEW, has helped her stay strong.

She also sees her diagnosis as a reason to advocate for others living with ALS.

“I don’t feel brave,” Brooks said of sharing her story online. “I feel like it’s my duty right now.”

Brooks said social media allows her to reach people around the world, especially through her wrestling community.

She hopes that visibility will help more people understand ALS and support research.

“Everyone knows the Ice Bucket Challenge, but most don’t even know still what ALS is,” she said.

That message is now reaching her hometown.

Brooks’ childhood best friend, Heather Blake, is helping bring the ALS Challenge to Owasso High School.

The Owasso football team is scheduled to take part in the challenge on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. giving the community another way to show support for Brooks and raise awareness about ALS.

“It has meant the world to me,” Brooks said of seeing her friends and the Owasso community rally around her.

For Brooks, the goal is bigger than one challenge or one social media post.

She wants people to understand what ALS does to the body and why research is so important.

The disease can gradually take away a person’s ability to walk, talk, eat and breathe, while they remain aware of what is happening.

“There is no reason people should be living like this,” Brooks said.

She hopes her story inspires people to take one more step to help ALS families.

“I hope everyone comes away with a better understanding of ALS and feels inspired to do one more thing to help ALS families fight this brutal disease,” she said.

To learn more about Brooks’ journey and how to support ALS awareness and research, visit IamALS.org/Rebel