'World's a darker place' without KSU student killed in Korea Halloween tragedy, father says
Nov. 2—Steve Blesi said his son had waited his whole life for a journey like the study abroad trip that carried him across the world to South Korea.
"He'd wanted to do this adventure for a number of years. He was always big on adventures. Even when he was a little kid, he talked about going on an adventure ... it was his whole thing," Steve Blesi said of his son, Steven.
That lifelong dream made it all the more heart-rending when the Blesi family learned Steven Blesi, a 20-year-old Kennesaw State University student and Lassiter High School grad, was among more than 150 people killed in the crowd crush over the weekend in Seoul.
"I knew he had a desire to go and explore the world, and I was hesitant to send him, even this year. Because I told him I couldn't protect him over there," Steve Blesi said.
Steven Blesi's death was first announced Sunday, hours after the fatal Halloween incident. Over 100,000 people crowded into the narrow streets of the Itaewon district, with a crowd surge trapping hundreds in a narrow alleyway.
South Korean officials acknowledged Tuesday that a lack of proper crowd management was likely a factor in the deadly incident.
"You had 137 cops there for 100,000 people — that's just asinine," Steve Blesi said. "It doesn't bring our son back, but that's just crazy ... From what I've read, people were piled on top of each other four and five deep. So our son died a horrible death, and that angers me to no end."
The other American student known to have been killed in the tragedy, Anne Gieske of the University of Kentucky, posted Instagram photos with Steven Blesi the same day as the crowd crush.
"There was a message from her father that shared some pictures with my wife, and we're thankful for that," Steve Blesi said. "But I've not been in touch with their family. They're going through the hell we're going through."
He added, "In the short time he was in Korea — two months out of the four months he was supposed to be there — he made a lot of friends there. All very similar, just seeing an incredible spirit and a happy and easy to get along with type of individual. The outpouring of friendship from his friends in South Korea there is just remarkable."
Though Steven Blesi's time was cut short, his father said he enjoyed every moment of the trip.
"He went to this place called Jeju Island, and he did some volunteer work there ... and then his friends went hiking there up to the volcano, went to waterfalls there — high heights, full day type adventures ... He said, 'Geez, I'm putting on weight, Dad, because the food is so good here.'"
Asked how he wanted his son to be remembered, Steve Blesi said, "Just a generous, loving, friendly, positive person. Always willing to help. Never judging people. Always seeing the positive aspect of things. The world's a darker place with him not in it."
