A gifted 17-year-old singer died suddenly late last week after collapsing on stage at an all-state choir event, the family says.
Daniel Moshi was performing Friday at the All-State Honors Show Choir for the Illinois American Choral Directors Association at Naperville North High School when he suddenly collapsed.
Daniel’s mother, Karolin Moshi, told a local NBC News station that she dropped Daniel off at school that day and nothing seemed off about him.
“Actually, I stopped by Starbucks right over here, where he grabbed his macchiato drink and his sandwich. I dropped him off. And he was waiting for his teacher to come, you know, come up and pick him up with his other students that were attending this choir show,” she said. “He texted me, ‘Mom, I’m here’ at around five o’clock approximately. I texted him, ‘I said everything good?’ I have his text. He said, ‘Yep, all good mom.’”
Daniel’s father, Loden Moshi, told the station that he was the one who got the call that Daniel had collapsed.
“I got the call from his teacher, musical teacher. And she said there’s an incident,” he said. “That he was singing his solo rehearsal and he collapsed. And now they’ve given him CPR and taken him to one hospital.”
Daniel was unconscious when first responders arrived at the school, the report said. When Daniel arrived at the hospital, he was pronounced dead.
Officials are investigating Daniel’s death and have not released any details on what might have caused it.
“We came home Saturday morning, I received a call from the DuPage coroner’s office and she said, ‘Miss Moshi, I’m reaching out to you to let you know that there was nothing wrong with your son,” Karolin told the publication. “His organs were all healthy, his heart — absolutely nothing wrong with him.’”
Daniel’s father and mother said that they have struggled emotionally since losing their son, but added that their faith has been what has kept them going.
“It’s not easy. We were supposed to buy him a car,” Daniel’s father said. “We’re actually doing his funeral. It’s not easy. It’s not easy for any parent to go through this because we still don’t have answers.”
Daniel’s sister, Dayna, encouraged people to have fun with their siblings and enjoy the time that they get to share with them because “if one of them goes away, you feel alone.”
“This loss impacts our entire Leyden community,” Leyden High School said in statement. “Our students and staff are grieving and our focus is on their well being. We encourage anyone who is struggling to reach out to a trusted adult and our Student Services department is available to provide support. We are also asking everyone to look after each other during this difficult time.”