Kid reporter who interviewed Obama at White House dies at 23

[Polybius]

Source: ABC News

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The student reporter who gained national acclaim when he interviewed President Barack Obama at the White House in 2009 has died of natural causes, his family says.

Damon Weaver was 23 when he died May 1, his sister, Candace Hardy, told the Palm Beach Post. Further details were not released. He had been studying communications at Albany State University in Georgia..

Weaver was 11 when he interviewed Obama for 10 minutes in the Diplomatic Room on Aug. 13, 2009, asking questions that focused primarily on education. He covered school lunches, bullying, conflict resolution and how to succeed.

Weaver then asked Obama to be his “homeboy,” saying then-Vice President Joe Biden had already accepted.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/kid-reporter-interviewed-obama-white-house-dies-23-77709228

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Very sad news. So young.

[keithsw]

1. Very sad indeed

I wonder if he had some type of pre-existing condition that we didn't know about? 23 year old people rarely die of natural causes

[bearsfootball516]

2. Yeah, there's something else going on.

Nobody dies at 23 of natural causes.

[catchnrelease]

10. I'm betting it was his heart

There is a congenital heart defect that normally goes unknown until the person just dies suddenly. And this usually happens when the person is young. I believe it has something to do with the muscle tissue of the heart. (My husband had some major heart issues in his late 50s and the cardiologist at first thought it was the defect and was ready to write up a paper on it because no one with the problem lives that long. Turned out it was something else, not the congenital defect. I swear the dr was disappointed that he hadn't found the rare case so he could get his name into the medical books!)

One of our friends sons was 18 and had just finished a high school basketball game and walking off the court when he dropped with a heart attack. He actually had no pulse and thank goodness was able to be revived several times until they got him to the hospital. He had a defibrillator installed right after that. You see stories like this every once in awhile, like a kid will die at football practice with no explanation. Same thing. Sad to hear that this young man passed away whatever the cause.

[burrowowl]

11. Maybe long T, my niece died form it at 18

there was also a basketball player who died from it. Heart-brain signal gets messed up.

[catchnrelease]

13. That could be it

I know it is not common but you do hear/read stories about it every once in awhile.

Sorry to hear about your niece. It has to be a shock when it happens to such young people.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. I likewise wonder what kind of natural causes

a 23 year old would die of.

[marybourg]

4. I had a 23 year old friend die of cancer.

Aneurysm? Sickle Cell Anemia? Leukemia?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. I don't think dying from cancer counts as dying from natural causes.

[marybourg]

7. There was just a post on the issue of classification

of deaths yesterday here on DU. And yes, death from a disease is death from “natural causes”, no matter how young the deceased or horrific the disease.

[Drunken Irishman]

8. It does. My mom died of cancer and natural causes is listed on her death certificate.

Basically, any death that isn't suicide, homicide or an accident is considered natural causes.

[Laffy Kat]

6. Oh no. This is so very sad.

What a waste. Life sucks, truly.

[Fla Dem]

9. I believe "Natural Causes" covers any biologically caused death.

So would not cover:
Murder
Suicide
Accident

[COL Mustard]

12. That's Horrible

I'm so sorry for his family's loss.

[momta]

14. So very sad.

Sad for anyone to pass away so young, and this guy had something special. My heart goes out to his family.

[oldsoftie]

15. I remember that interview. 23 is FAR too young. RIP. nt

[piddyprints]

16. When I was in college,

Another student collapsed and died at his desk. I didn’t know him. They said it was an undiagnosed heart condition. Very sad, but it does happen. I had no reason to think something was being covered up.

My question to the universe is: Why the fuck do the evil pricks get to live so long and the young innocents get taken so early?

[Rebl2]

17. My husband

and I have asked that so many times in the last year.

[PlanetBev]

18. I was just thinking about my best friend from Jr. High.

She would have turned 70 yesterday. She died of bladder cancer at age 34.

Life is full of curve balls. You never know.