Umaer A. Basha, 18, a freshman living in East Campus and a member of the freshman lightweight crew, fainted in a shower at home in Lake Forest, IL, on Monday, Sept. 22, and died two days later from water he had ingested into his lungs.
Senior Associate Dean of Students Robert M. Randolph said Mr. Basha's parents reported that their son was at home in Lake Forest for the student holiday weekend. On Monday, he fainted while taking a shower and water filled his lungs. He was taken to Children's Hospital in Chicago while in a coma. Efforts to revive him ultimately failed and he died Wednesday afternoon after being taken off a ventilator. Doctors said the cause of death was accidental drowning.
Professor Jed Buchwald, who is the East Campus housemaster, and representatives of the Dean's Office and the Medical Department met with Mr. Basha's floor mates in East Campus Thursday evening to inform them of his death and to offer their services. Mr. Basha was buried in a private Muslim service.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 1, 1997.
