News
Tributes paid to 'always happy' Shimon Brauer, who died on flight to New York
The 25-year-old's friends told the JC they're in shock at his sudden passing
June 28, 2023 14:03
The 25-year-old's friends told the JC they're in shock at his sudden passing
June 28, 2023 14:03The best friend of Shimon Brauer, a 25-year-old Charedi man who died following a suspected asthma attack on a flight from London to New York on Monday, has spoken with the JC about his “always happy, always dancing friend”.
Shulem Hanstater had known Brauer “since we were in Pampers” in Stamford Hill’s Belz community and spoke with him on the phone just a few hours before he died.
Hanstater said: “Shimon called me to ask if I could take him to the airport, I said I’d like to, but the timing is not good for me. So, instead, we had a normal chat for five minutes, and he told me about his trip to America. He was going to New York to work at a camp for people with Down Syndrome. He said he was very, very excited and he would now go to buy some food.
“If I knew it would be the last time I would talk to my friend, I would have stayed on the phone. I am still very in shock, he really was a good boy.”
Shimon Brauer
Brauer would unfortunately suffer a reported asthma attack on the British Airways flight and is believed to have dropped his inhaler in a panic, collapsing unconscious shortly after.
Crewmembers attempted to perform CPR, unaware that his airways were closed.
“I saw the news when I woke up around eight in the morning on Monday,” Hanstater said.
“The first thing I did was message my friends. They didn’t know yet. Everyone was just shocked, totally shocked.
“I have a friend whose name is Tuli Zinger. Me, him, and Shimon were very good friends. We used to go out together a lot to London Bridge for a beer, and we liked to sing. When I [texted] Tuli the news, he told me he didn’t believe it. When I asked why, he said, because he was having a dream, just before he woke up, of the three of us singing together.”
