Bharti Shahani, 22, died Nov. 11 after nearly a week in coma, becoming the 9th victim in the tragedy.
Family and friends of Bharti Shahani, the 22-year-old Indian American student who died after being injured at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston on Nov.5, bid her an emotional final farewell Tuesday.
Shahani was with her sister and cousin at the concert when they were trapped in a crowd surge with hundreds of others. Shahani remained in a coma for nearly a week before she was declared dead at 6:50 p.m. on Nov. 11, becoming the 9th victim in the tragedy.
Mourners greeted Texas A&M student’s grief-stricken parents with loving hugs and condolences as a video montage of Shahani played on a screen, click2houston.com.
Images from birth to her adult years showed the happy days of the young woman who family members say is “gone too soon.” Those who knew her best described what she meant to them, the website said.
“The most elegant prose you can write over the course of weeks doesn’t come close to capturing the essence of who Bharti was,” her cousin who attended the festival with her was quoted as saying.“I think her mom said it best, ‘Bharti is love.”
Another cousin described Shahani as the “mature one” who took care of everyone. She said that her little sister would always look to Shahani for answers.
Shahani’s cousin said if there was one thing she could do differently, it would be to tell Shahani “don’t go” to the ill-fated concert.
Another cousin who is three years younger than Shahani said when she was struggling to adjust to college life, Shahani stepped in to help her adjust.
“I can’t imagine going to college without her now. I miss my hugs from the world’s best hugger. They were so warm and comforting,” she said.
“I’m going to miss our homework sessions, having her here. Bharti was the greatest cousin and sister someone can have in their life. She was always readily there to support me no matter the time, and I miss you so much.”
Shahani’s youngest sister said, “God always picks the most amazing and good people to take with him and you were one of them,” she said.
“The last words that Bharti said to me were when she was dropping me off at my friend’s house and I said ‘see you tomorrow night’ and you just smiled at me and said…..”
Unable to finish, the sister broke down crying and was escorted away, Click2Houston said. Shahani’s other sister stepped in to finish, saying their big sister was “very put together” and was the one person that she could open up to completely.
She says she now does not know what to do and feels very lonely. They were together at the concert and she said she wishes that she could have held her hand tighter and not let go when they were ripped apart by the crowd.
She told click2houston.com she constantly wonders about the “what-ifs” even though there was nothing they could have done to stop it.