A funeral has been held for a medical student in Birmingham who tragically died in his sleep at his university campus.
The fun, friendly student Jazib Ahmad, aged 18, was a promising medical student.
His death has been a shock among his friends and family.
The teenager was discovered lifeless in his bed at the University of Exeter’s St Luke’s campus.
It’s believed he died from either meningitis or septicaemia, prompting friends to set up a crowdfunding effort to highlight the dangers of the illness, reports DevonLive.
So far more than £1,000 has been raised for a bench on campus in his memory and donations to a meningitis charity.
Fellow student Pablo Santander, 32, was one of a group of Jazib’s friends who set up the GoFundMe page.
He said: “Jazib was studying medicine and was so excited about his future career as a doctor.
“He was a bit shy at first in class but was becoming very confident. He was a very, very bright student.
“He was a fun and sociable guy, not in the sense that he did a lot of partying but everyone around him was always smiling.”
On Friday, November 20, Jazib and some fellow students had been to Truro to look at accommodation for a placement they were due to go on where they would continue their medical studies.
Pablo explained the tragic circumstances surrounding his death.
He said: “When they got back to Exeter he and his flat mates went to McDonald’s, had some food and returned to the Rowancroft halls of residence at the St Luke’s campus.
“He was too tired to go out so he went to bed.
“In the morning none of his flat mates had seen him, so late morning they went in to check on him. They found him dead in his bed.”
Pablo, who was in the same tutor group as Jazib, said the last time he saw his friend he had a cold and a “sniffly nose” but was generally fine and happy.
He said: “We all assumed it was fresher’s flu and didn’t really think anything of it. He was otherwise very bright and happy.
“I found out on the Monday morning by text as we were due to be going to our tutor group together.
“We were all offered counselling and support by the university. It was so sad, such a tragedy.”
Pablo and a group of friends, along with the blessing of Jazib’s family, set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for a memorial bench in his honour.
Pablo said: “We set the total for the cost of the bench at £800 and we were really surprised to exceed that within just 24 hours.
“We decided that any extra money should be used for raising awareness in campus about the preventable dangers of Meningitis and encouraging all students to get vaccinated.
“Any remaining funds will be donated to the Meningitis research foundation, in support of their aim to defeat meningitis worldwide.
“We want to stop anything like this happening again.”
A group of 12 friends, including Pablo, went to Birmingham for Jazib’s funeral and last week a memorial event was held at the University of Exeter.
Pablo said: “I was really struck by just how many people had been touched by him.
“The memorial was attended by so many people from many different walks of life – studies, the Muslim society, football clubs.
“He was a very pleasant, very, very bright and inquisitive young man.”
You can donate to the GoFundMe page by visiting www.gofundme.com/f/jcu5tn-memorial-bench-for-jazib
