There is no easy way to do this. On Friday night, March 22, 2024, our world was shattered. There was an accident. Our amazing 17 year old son, Adam Nemat, and some of his friends were riding a large golf cart in a dirt area behind a friend’s house when it flipped. Everyone was thrown out. Adam was in the front passanger side, and unfortunately, the cart landed on him. He passed away instantly. Our baby boy didn’t suffer. Fortunately, nobody else was hurt, at least not physically.
The outpouring of support has been tramendous. We hurt a lot. Unbearably a lot. It’s hard to breathe. But we hurt not only for ourselves and our family, but also for his friends who are likewise shattered. We love you guys.
Adam was so much more than his death. Here are some things about this amazing soul, who did so much good in such a short time:
He was kind, wild, always smiling, and beyond adventourous. He was a thrill seeker. He went bungee jumping and he thought himself how to snowboard, skateboard, and play the guitar.
He was the treasurer of the Thirst Project Club at Santiago, which raises awareness for the global water crisis.
He was the vice president of the Physics Club.
He was a big advocate of donating blood and helped run blood drives. He personally donated whole blood and power red since he turned 16.
He broke down over the sheer poverty he saw in South Africa and was considering how to help that region. Ali and he were talking about doing a Habitat for Humanity type trip this summer as their solo trip.
He spent time feeding those in need, both during Covid and through Unity.
He just wanted to make the world better.
He didn’t believe in a hierarchy- he didn’t think Unity should even have an e-board and everything should be done by collective agreement.
He refused to take prep classes for his AP exams, SAT, or get a coach for college applications because he genuinely and whole heartedly believed that it is unfair that people with resources can gain advantage in the process where someone just as intelligent or dedicated would miss out on their dream college simply because of their socioeconomic status. He didn’t even let anyone review his personal statements (to this day I don’t know what he said) because he didn’t want an unfair advantage. And again, not every one has parents educated enough to help with them.
He had a 1510 on his SATs, took seven AP exams, including two that he self studied for, and got 5s on several of them. He was set to take three more in May.
He had just received his acceptance to UC San Diego with a major in physics. He had a passion for physics and math. He was still waiting to hear from Berkeley and the Ivys.
Ali took him last weekend to get a tux fitted for senior prom. He was going to graduate on May 29th, with honors, a cord for Unity, a cord for being chief lab assistant for AP chem, and being a teaching assistant for AP physics.
He died three months to day of his 18th birthday, which would be June 22nd. He and I were going to go skydiving to celebrate. That has been planned since he was 15 and reaffirmed last week, much to my chagrin.
Instead…
We spent an excruciating 45 mins yesterday giving consent, body part by body part, for organ and tissue donation because he was a minor and that’s what he wanted. Through personal absolute torture, we carried out his wish.
People keep asking if we need anything. What we need, what we will never have again, is our baby boy.
We just don’t understand how we are expected to survive this.
Some amazing friends of mine have created a gofundme to continue his mission of making the world a better place. All proceeds will go to Unicef in Adam’s name. Here is a link if you are interested. https://gofund.me/76ac9cb0
I’m making this post public. Please feel free to share. He was loved by so many people - we just aren’t capable of personally informing everyone.
You may also view more of Judge Nemat’s courage at this video here and Adam’s story here.
