Edward Zhou (left) with his parents.Photo:Courtesy of Brian McMurry
Courtesy of Brian McMurry
Coach Sandra Sparger is grieving 16-year-old figure skating protégé Edward Zhou and his parents —all of whom were killed in the Washington, D.C., plane crashon Jan. 29.
Sparger will miss Edward’s hugs the most.
“He’s such a compassionate kid, such a loving child, a big hugger,” explains the 66-year-old former competitive figure skater, who began teaching Edward “moves in the field” when he was 8.
“He just loved skating,” Sparger tells PEOPLE.
Edward was traveling back from Wichita to Washington on American Airlines Flight 5342 with his parents, Yu Zhou and Kaiyan Mao, when a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicoptercollided with the planeas it was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
All 64 people on the jet, as well as the three soldiers in the helicopter, died. The crashremains under investigation.
Other families from the skating club were also on board:12-year-old Brielle Beyerand her mom, Justyna Beyer; and16-year-old Cory Haynosand his parents, Stephanie and Roger Haynos. In total, 28 people from the figure skating community died.
A portion of the damaged plane from the D.C. plane crash.Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Chip Somodevilla/Getty
“All my kids” were gone, she says.
“They were our great kids," she adds. “They were everybody’s kids.”
Edward Zhou.Courtesy of Brian McMurry
The figure skating community in Fairfax is a friendly, interconnected web of kids, parents and coaches. Edward was a standout when it came to both skill and kindness, Sparger says.
“Right from the beginning, [Edward] had a lot of talent,” she says, “Just such a friendly guy. So warm.”
His parents, who moved to the U.S. from China, were equally sweet and “very supportive” of Edward, Sparger says.
Brian McMurry, whose 16-year-old son Kai used to skate with Edward, also knew the Zhous.
“When they first started, the boys weren’t able to lace up their own skates,” says McMurry, 57, who first became friendly with the family in 2017, “so [Yu] or I were tying laces on ice skates for the boys.”
Though the families lost touch after Kai stopped skating (he went on to play baseball), McMurry, a federal employee, remembers the couple’s sense of fun and dedication to their son.
“You would not know that [Edward was] on the verge of making the Olympic team,” McMurry says. Though the teen had a “fire in him,” he would just “put his head down … and stayed humble.”
“An amazing kid. His parents supported Eddie every step of the way,” McMurry says.
Kai McMurry (left), coach Kalle Strid (center) and Edward Zhou (right) in 2017.Courtesy of Brian McMurry
Then his phone started pinging in the middle of the night.
“There were messages of Facebook friends and such, hoping and praying that what they thought was true was not,” he says. “The skating community knew who was on the flight and social media is what keyed me in that there were figure skaters on the flight.”
As the Fairfax community reels, McMurry has decided to start a fundraiser in support of the Zhous’ extended family.
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“The whole immediate family was gone in a flash and their extended family had little or no relationship with the skating community,” says McMurry, who wanted to help serve as a bridge between the community and the family (his wife is from China and they both speak Mandarin).
On theGoFundMe pagethat McMurry started, he explains that donations will go to “essential expenses.” A memorial scholarship in Edward’s honor is also planned.
“The whole family is tragically lost,” says Sparger, Edward’s coach. “We have such a great community. Everybody has been so helpful and supportive through this whole horrible experience — this nightmare. It’s not just me, it’s the whole skating community.”
source: people.com
