We lost an amazing boy on christmas an I want people to hear his story. Ben Breedlove died on Christmas, leaving behind a wordless, two-part YouTube video message about chronic illness, death and the afterlife viewed more than 450,000 times as of Wednesday. Scores of viewers have been commenting on the videos, ruminating about how [...]
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Ben Breedlove died on Christmas, leaving behind a wordless, two-part YouTube video message about chronic illness, death and the afterlife viewed more than 450,000 times as of Wednesday.
Scores of viewers have been commenting on the videos, ruminating about how young and healthy Breedlove looked, about his positive attitude and the unfairness of death. Some even posted tributes and songs in memory of Breedlove. Kid Cudi wrote on his blog that after seeing the videos, he was in tears.
His family and friends apparently found the videos hours after Breedlove’s death at home, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
Deanne Breedlove told the newspaper that watching the posthumous messages from her son brought her joy.
“It was a gift to us,” she said, “And for him to be so confident and unafraid of death and to share it with other people was so touching.”
One of Breedlove’s friends said the videos were a departure from the Ben he knew, who hated the hospital and didn’t like to talk about his illness.
