UBC student’s death probed in U.S.
CIRCUMSTANCES INVESTIGATED: 23-year-old was hospitalized after attending festival southeast of Seattle
Vivek Singh Pandher’s final act of donating his organs and tissues to help seven people is emblematic of the way he lived his life.
“If something needed to be done he was there for everyone and made everyone feel very alive and loved,” said his younger sister, Kirad Pandher, describing her brother as a responsible person and role model.
Pandher, 23, died at Vancouver General Hospital on Friday.
He was hospitalized a week earlier while attending the Paradiso Music Festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington state, southeast of Seattle, and transferred to Vancouver Tuesday.
Family friend Rupinder Kahlon said Pandher suffered heat stroke as a result of extremely high temperatures during the festival and his heart stopped. He suffered brain damage due to a lack of oxygen.
A spokesman for the Grant County Sheriff ’s Department, which is investigating Pandher’s death, confirmed that temperatures were “in the triple digits” Fahrenheit, but could not provide details about the circumstances surrounding Pandher’s death.
Pandher was young, but had accomplished a lot and was wellknown in his hometown of Ludhiana, India.
He was written up in the local paper for riding his bicycle — unusual in a city where people drive expensive cars and motorcycles. He and a group of artists started a graffiti movement and he had exhibited his photography at a local gallery. He was also a member of a rock band, playing guitar and singing.
“He was a very charismatic person,” said Kirad Pandher, who travelled to Vancouver from India with her family. “Whomsoever he talked to, he left a really good impression on them.”
Pandher was set to graduate next year from the University of B.C., where he was studying electrical engineering. While going to school, he took photos and was a videographer.
Kirad Pandher said her brother was an inspiration and kept a list of things he wanted to do, such as skydiving, and checked them off as he completed them.
“He lived completely and fully. He wrote that he was in the one per cent of people who have that kind of happiness and satisfaction in life,” she said. “He encouraged other people to do what they wanted to do.”
A funeral service is scheduled at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Riverside Funeral Home, 7410 Hopcott Rd., Delta. Following the service, a special gathering will take place at Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara, 8115 132nd St., Surrey.