Hope Benson, the 6-month-old daughter of Georgetown football Head Coach Bob Benson, died Wednesday at Georgetown University Hospital of complications from Trisomy 13.

The infant was diagnosed with the chromosomal syndrome shortly after her birth on June 18, 2003. She underwent a handful of surgeries – including one on her cleft lip, one symptom of the disorder – and visited the hospital numerous times before returning last week. Her condition had declined rapidly in the past few days.

Bob Benson brought his daughter to most of his team’s games last season, although surgery prevented the infant from attending the Lafayette game on Oct. 4.

Benson’s wife, Meghan Alexander, took care of the infant most often, despite a job coaching field hockey and teaching first and second graders with learning disabilities at the Potomac School in McLean, Va.

Benson completed his 11th season with the Hoyas in November. Georgetown rallied to 3-4 after losing its first four contests, but won only one of its five final games to finish 4-8, including 1-6 in the Patriot League.

The Benson family received much support from the university community. “The Jesuits have been great – the athletic director, the president, from the top down,” Benson told the Allentown Morning Call in October. The School of Nursing even set up a program in which fourth-year students assisted in caring for Hope Benson. Members of the football team have also begun doing volunteer work with infants at Georgetown University Hospital.

Trisomy 13, or Patau’s syndrome, is the presence of a third No. 13 chromosome, with an incidence of one in 2,000 to one in 5,000 live births, according to the Journal of Medical Genetics. ost Trisomy 13 pregnancies result in miscarriages, and those babies that do endure birth have very short expected life spans. Forty-four percent of patients do not survive the first month; 70 percent do not survive the first year.

A funeral will be held Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at Dahlgren Chapel.