R.I.P. Freddy Fung

Sometimes you need a reality check...

I got a call from Steve-O yesterday around 10am alerting me to the fact that our friend Freddy was about to die of cancer. Naturally, I was surprised even though I knew that Freddy had been battling this disease for at least a few years now. From everything I had heard, his treatment was going pretty well. As usual, there were some good days and there were some bad days, but nothing seemed to indicate that his death could be so sudden.

Some background information: Freddy was one of the first people I met in college at Bentley. Not only did he live next door to me, but he also knew some of the same people who I go to church with in Chinatown. So with this common ground, of course I started joking around with him whenever I could, just to get a laugh out of him. In case you don't know, this is what I do. The reason I did this was because I wanted him to feel like he was welcome. There were a lot of jokes he probably didn't understand and that was because of Freddy's limited ability to speak and fully comprehend the English language. He wasn't that good at it because he was a Chinese person born and raised in the Dominican Republic, with only a few English lessons. So essentially, he was trilingual (fluent Chinese, fluent Spanish, broken English). But boy was he a quick learner. By the end of the first semester, I think he knew better English than I did. See, the thing with Freddy is, he was always trying to better himself and wasn't spending time working on his image and trying to get people to like him. People just liked him for the way he was. Being the immature guy that I was, I would always try to pull pranks on him just to see how riled up he would get, but he'd never get mad at me. He always had the "aww shucks, you got me again" look whenever I did something stupid, like temporarily steal his computer or something like that. Like I said earlier, he was a quick learner because, before I knew it, he started pulling pranks back on me. However, nothing will ever beat the time that we took a picture of me in which it looked like my ass was touching his pillow and we emailed it to him. For the record, my ass didn't touch the pillow, it was just the angle. Freddy saw the picture and I think that may have been the only time I've ever seen him slightly mad. But once we told him that there was no ass to pillow contact, he was okay with it. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that Freddy was just a good guy all around. He worked hard, easily made friends, had a good sense of humor, was very religious, and loved his family. I'm proud to be able to call him my friend...


We went to Mass General Hospital around 11ish and met up with a bunch of Freddy's friends (some from our Bentley graduating class, some from his other walks of life) as well as his family members. It was a pretty tough scene. Apparently, Freddy was checked into the hospital over the weekend and things took a turn for the worst on Monday. There was a lot of crying, a lot of disbelief and just a lot of general head shaking. Freddy was 27 years old and was about to die from cancer. There's something wrong with this picture.

We waited quietly for hours just to be able to see him, as there were medical procedures and family issues that needed to be addressed first and foremost. At around 2pm, we were allowed to go to his room. We were told that Freddy was having trouble breathing and could barely speak. You know, it's pretty tough when you see someone in a hospital bed fighting to live. Freddy was conscious enough to acknowledge the fact that we were all there by waving his hands to us. What happened next is something that I'll never forget. Freddy then mustered the strength to speak to us. He thanked us for being his friends, told us he loved us, and told us goodbye. I can't even imagine how much pain he was in just getting those words out. It's at that moment that you realize how precious life is and forget about all the petty differences and issues that you have going on in your own personal life.

We left the room, went back to the waiting area where people were consoling each other and kind of dealing with things in their own personal way. According to what I heard, he was only given about 24 hours to live as of Monday at 5:30PM. Those 24 hours passed and Freddy was still resting in his bed. Another hour passed and it was almost time for the Red Sox/Yankees game to start. I only mention this because Freddy was a huge Red Sox fan and I'm sure it made him happy to see the Red Sox doing well thus far into the season. Four hours later, the Red Sox had just beaten the Yankees and Freddy was still fighting for his life. We all went to visit him in his room at around 11:30PM, and at that time, we were told that it was time to say our final goodbyes. One by one, we sat by his bedside, said a few words and made our way back to the waiting room. By 1AM, people were getting really tired. Freddy was still fighting so everyone figured they'd go home and maybe come back the following morning to check up on him.

Fifteen minutes after we left the hospital, Freddy passed away. It was about 1:30AM when we got the call. It really hits you when it finally happens because then you start thinking about all of the good times you had with that person, all of the times you could've spent with that person but decided to do something else, and you start questioning why this had to happen. I remember that last time I saw Freddy was last June at Steve-O's housewarming party. He was so full of life and I remember talking to him for a few minutes. You couldn't even tell he was afflicted with cancer or any other ailments and I think he was going through chemo at the time. But that's the thing. He had a strong will and a good soul, so you can take away his body and you can stop his heart, but he'll still be with us in one way or another.

This is the last conversation we had...

Here's to you Freddy, may you rest in peace, may you look down upon us and may your memories stay in our hearts forever.


Freddy Fung: September 29, 1981 - May 6, 2009