Incoming Freshman Dies After Falling

Mehdy Hazheer, an incoming Harvard College freshman and a member of the Class of 2015, died on Sunday after falling from climbing a wall, according to a local ABC News affiliate.

Hazheer incurred an injury that left him in a comatose state, according to a Facebook page created in his honor.

Hazheer was one day away from graduating from Raleigh Charter High School in Raleigh, N.C., when the incident occurred. His family said Hazheer loved to climb, but they think the backpack he was wearing caused him to fall, striking his head on the wall, the Raleigh-Durham ABC News station reported.

"He changed many lives with his laughter, incomparable personality and character," the description to the Facebook page reads. "He had a never ending desire for knowledge."

Hazheer played soccer and was a leader at his school. He was involved in the Interfaith Alliance, the Social Justice Club, and the Islam Club and coordinated various relief efforts, according to a statement from the school.

"He bridged communities and inspired his fellow students," wrote Thomas E. Humble, the Raleigh Charter High School principal.

Hazheer had applied and was accepted to the First-Year Urban Program, a pre-orientation program where students perform community service in Greater Boston, according to Dean of Freshmen Thomas A. Dingman '67. He had not yet been assigned to a freshman dormitory.

"We are devastated in thinking about his mother, father, and friends," said Dingman, who wrote a memo to Hazheer's parents upon receiving news of his death. "We'll feel a big hole in our hearts."

"He really was an inspirational force," Humble said in an interview.

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.

CORRECTION: June 8, 2011

An earlier version of the June 7 news article "Incoming Freshman Dies After Falling" incorrectly stated that Hazheer fell from a ladder while hanging up a graduation banner. In fact, he fell from climbing a wall.