Alexander Holiat 06′ Drowns in Tempe
I was surprised to get this message from a guy on Facebook I didn’t know. It didn’t make any sense at the time:
I just heard about a Cornell kid dying on Slope Day (but havent read anything on the Cornell Sun/Cornell Chronicle, etc.) — All I know is that it was a student who drank a lot and ended up drowning in a pool (at a fraternity house? — but I dont even know if thats true). Just something I heard from a friend of a friend. Was wondering if you knew anything more.
Well, thanks to an article “Alex Holiat ‘06 Dies at 22“, now we know where this rumour came from:
Alex Holiat ‘06 died earlier this week in Tempe, Ariz., the Arizona Republic reported. Holiat, 22, was found at the bottom of a swimming pool at 12:45 a.m. on Sunday. According to officials, Holiat suffered a head injury. Police are still investigating, but found no indications of foul play. According to Facebook, Holiat was a native of Havertown, Pa. and attended Archbishop John Carroll High School.
Click to see the full version…
Summer heat in Arizona, dehydration, sunstroke, and a large swimming pool don’t play well together. On average, only 90 people die in Arizona of drowning each year, about 1/3 in swimming pools. It’s a shame that a promising Cornell alum would go like this. Remember Alex as the smiling friend you knew. Rest in peace, Holiat.
Update: We retract our strong speculations that alcohol was involved in Alex Holiat’s drowning, as there has been no public finding released to this effect. However, according to the CDC, “Alcohol use was involved in 25-50% of adolescent and adult deaths associated with water recreation.”
| This entry was posted on Saturday, May 12th, 2007 at 12:54 am and is tagged with archbishop john carroll high school, john carroll high school, havertown pa, alex holiat, alexander holiat, adult deaths, slope day, cornell chronicle, tempe ariz, facebook, fraternity house, arizona republic, carroll high school, water recreation, swimming pools, rest in peace, friend of a friend, john carroll, sunstroke, foul play. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback. |
3 Responses to “Alexander Holiat 06′ Drowns in Tempe”
Leave a Reply
I met Alex at Intel through working groups that we were both involved in. Although I didn’t work closely with him, I did get the impression that he was an intelligent and competent individual at work. I was shocked when I heard about the news of his tragic death, and all I could remember is how he was always smiling. Actually, the last thing I remember was sitting in a meeting and seeing the pyramids of Giza photo that he used as his desktop on his laptop (he had showed us the slide show from his Egypt trip earlier in the year – including the infamous/hilarious camel photo). My sincerest condolences to Alex’s family and all his friends and family that are mourning his loss.
~Tomas
(FYI, May 5th was an unusually cool day in Tempe with temperatures in the low 80’s – dehydration isn’t an issue. Also, the home where the incident occurred is not a fraternity house; it’s situated in a family neighborhood more than a mile and a half away from Arizona State’s campus.)
Low 80s is indeed cool for May 5th, although there’s nothing that stops one from drinking at home. Alcohol is a contributing factor in a large number of recreational drownings.
Never go drunk in pool.