Boston University Student Obituary Written By Himself Just Months Prior to Tragic Death
A Boston University student has written his own obituary just months prior dying in a tragic bike crash.
Graduate student Christopher Weigl died in an accident on Commonwealth Ave. in Boston, Boston University on Dec. 6. However, it has now emerged that Weigl wrote his own mock obituary just months before.
The 23 year old graduate wrote the fake obituary for a class assignment in September, where he described his love for photojournalism, music and the outdoors.
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He died on Thursday after being involved in a crash where his bike collided with a 16-wheel tractor trailer.
In his mock obituary he described about when he first realized he wanted to go into photojournalism; during a trip to Southeast Asia following graduation from Skidmore College when he did a story about the government takeover of a Cambodian island.
Once the story of his fake obituary emerged the Boston Globe publication decided to reprint it in its entirety.
Weigl's wrote:
"Lifelong Massachusetts resident and Boston University graduate student Christopher Weigl, 22, passed away September 5 after protracted complications stemming from obituary writing.
Christopher was born in Framingham and lived most of his life in Southborough. An avid outdoorsman, Christopher obtained the rank of Eagle Scout at age 14 and remained an active member of Boy Scout Troop 1 till his 18th birthday.
In addition to scouting, Christopher was an accomplished clarinet player throughout his years of schooling, and played in a variety of ensembles including the Central District Band and Orchestra, MetroWest Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Worcester Youth Symphony Orchestra.
After graduating from Worcester Academy in 2007, Christopher matriculated at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Although eventually deciding upon a bachelor's in English, photography supplanted music as the central passion of Christopher's life, and he could often be found shooting campus events for the student paper or the school's communications department.
By graduation, Christopher had served as Photography Club president as well as photography editor of the Skidmore News. These pursuits were in addition to internships with Panorama Magazine, Emma Dodge Hanson Photography, and KCK Photography, as well as a semester abroad in Florence to take more specialized photography classes.
After graduation, Christopher indulged his love of travel by embarking on a six-week trip through Operation Groundswell, a voluntourism organization, to find a story and do service projects in Cambodia and Thailand. It was on the little Cambodian island of Koh Rong, where he interviewed locals and uncovered a government takeover of the island, that Christopher found a story and cemented his love for photojournalism. The experience in Southeast Asia seeded the first thoughts of graduate school, and after a year of working at Ritz Camera, driving limousines, building a photography business, and freelance reporting for the weekly Community Advocate, Christopher moved to Brighton to attend BU's photojournalism masters program.
Christopher leaves his parents, Bonnie and Andy Weigl, his brother Dustin, and cat Ivy."
The incident in which Weigl died in is still under investigation by police, but the tractor trailer driver has not been charged at this time.
Boston University President Robert Brown has confirmed that the university is looking to better understand the cause of the accident - the second fatal bicycle accident in the community this fall – so that they can take measures to prevent similar tragedies from happening again in the future.
