PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Police say 21-year-old Taha Chomelawala was hit by a car while riding an e-scooter at 10th and East Carson Streets in the South Side on Sunday, Aug. 23.
According to a GoFundMe set up for his family, Chomelawala died in the hospital last Tuesday, two days after the crash.
“It’s pretty sad news,” said University of Pittsburgh sophomore Jude Adamo.
Chomelawala was born in Mumbai, India, and grew up just outside of Philadelphia. He was a senior this year at the University of Pittsburgh and was in the honors college, studying neuroscience. After graduation, he was planning to go to med school.
He was already working in the medical field and volunteered his time with the Berwyn Fire Company, near Philadelphia, as an EMT.
“It’s a loss for the department, for our community,” Berwyn Fire Company EMS Captain Mike Baskin said.
Baskin was Chomelawala’s supervisor.
“He was generally a very quiet person, but once you sort of engaged him, he became very chatty,” Baskin said. “That got you to realize he was a very intelligent young man and had a very good attitude about taking care of people. I know he was excited about going out and helping the community. He was very, very interested in helping people.”
Pittsburgh Police tell Channel 11 that the driver stayed on scene and is cooperating with the investigation.
In a statement, the University of Pittsburgh said, “Following such a sad loss, our first priority is to respect the privacy and wishes of family members. Student affairs has been in close contact with the family and the academic departments that he was part of to ensure appropriate resources and support are available. Additionally, our care and support team has connected with the roommate and close contacts of Taha to provide resources.”
“It really just, no matter who it is, whether you know him or not, the fact that it’s a fellow student, and you could turn to any of your friends or even yourself, you could be like ‘that could have been one of us.’ It’s
just a really sad thing,” Adamo said.
There will be a public celebration of life this Sunday at Conestoga High School near Philadelphia, where Chomelawala graduated.
“Everybody is supporting you guys, and the whole Pitt community is behind you,” Adamo added.
If you would like to help the Chomelawala family, click here.
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