Wouldn't it be good if Prince were to acknowledge this guys regard 4 him in some way.

skipper said:

Yeah...especially given what seems to be the "hate crime" element of the story. Apparently he was chased by a bunch of thugs who were yelling "Get the white boy!"

this is very bittersweet. RIP.

CherrieMoonKisses said:

Cherrie Moon i may have mis-understood you but how is any of this "sweet". It's all bitter. A young man was struck down in the prime of his life. Please help my confusion...

dearlybeloved said:

I thought the things his friends said about him and his love for life were very sweet.

Death is not all bad. It's just a part of the journey all of us are put here to take.

Wouldn't it be good if Prince were to acknowledge this guys regard 4 him in some way.

http://www.nyunews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/04/06/4434bdd916130

Students mourn friend's death

By Barbara Leonard
Managing Editor

April 06, 2006
CAS junior Broderick John Hehman — whom his friends called “JB” — passed away on Tuesday from injuries he sustained when he was hit by a car on Saturday.

Hehman, 20, was in Harlem Saturday night when he darted into the path of a silver Mercedes-Benz at the intersection of 125th Street and Park Avenue, police officials said.

The accident occurred because Hehman was attempting to flee muggers whom he encountered while walking to meet a friend in the neighborhood, according to the weblog of his close friend, Paco Secada, a Gallatin senior.

After being hospitalized for skull and leg fractures at Harlem Hospital, Hehman slipped into a coma and was pronounced brain-dead on Monday, his father, Thomas Hehman, said.

A resident of the Upper East Side, Hehman graduated The Summit School in Queens, N.Y. in 2003. At NYU, he was a metropolitan studies major and peer educator at large for NYU residence halls, his friend CAS junior Antonella Inserra said.

Becoming a peer educator was very important to Hehman, said Inserra, who lived on the same Brittany residence hall floor as Hehman during their freshman year.

“He told me, ‘I really want to help do what I can for people,’ ” she said. “When he got it, he was so excited.”

Memories like Hehman’s friendly enthusiasm, weekly bubble tea get-togethers and penchant for Prince will serve as a constant reminder of what Inserra said she will miss about her friend.

“All I can think about right now is just how amazingly open a person he was,” Inserra said. “As soon as he’d see you, it’d be instant hugs — always, constantly.”

For CAS junior Carrie Kaidan, Hehman’s devotion to Prince music demonstrated his uninhibited personality.

“I hosted a kareoke during Welcome Week this past Fall — he came and sang Prince like it was his job,” Kaidan, who first met Hehman at an NYU pre-college writing course in 2003, said in an e-mail. “He never let people judge him. Anyone who knew him respected his talent, his intellect and his humor.”

Hehman’s friend and CAS senior Diana Gonzalez said she met JB a few summers ago when they worked together raising funds door-to-door for a nonprofit organization.

“JB was a treasure, and what happened is nothing short of an absolute tragedy,” Gonzalez said in an e-mail. “He was too young, too good and caring, had too much promise to die. I keep thinking over and over that this really is proof that there is no justice in this world.”

Inserra said she bonded with Hehman over his love for opera and “Lord of the Rings” author J.R.R. Tolkien.

“He was really good at talking or listening,” she said. “He would always say something either hilarious or something that would make you sit back and think.”

Secada, one of Hehman’s closest friends, said he and his late friend’s family decided not to comment about Hehman’s life to the press because they would be unable to do him justice.

“We just want to grieve and that’s it,” said Secada, who is planning an open memorial for those who want to commemorate Hehman’s life.

Inserra said the memorial will likely be held after Easter when more people will be available to “remember him and celebrate the life he had.”

Before the accident, Hehman recently told those close to him that they should not cry over his death, Inserra said. She added that such discussions probably arose from the fact that his mother died in October.

“He didn’t want people to feel sad if anything should happen to him,” Inserra said. “He wanted to assure people that it was OK to laugh. He said, ‘It’s okay, and you can still live.’

Just another thing in life to show everyone there is no god, and that luck and timing determines your true fate.

loudawg said:

uh, yeah, definitive proof right there.

dearlybeloved said:

I thought the things his friends said about him and his love for life were very sweet.

Death is not all bad. It's just a part of the journey all of us are put here to take.