‘I feel like I have a hole in me’: Father remembers son killed in S. Korea Halloween accident

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A local family is grieving after losing a family member in a horrible accident in Seoul, South Korea.

More than 150 people tragically died in the Halloween incident after being crushed by a crowd.

Channel 2 Action News learned that one of the victims was Steven Blesi II, a Kennesaw State University student from metro Atlanta.

“I feel like I have a hole in me. A big hole in my chest,” his father, Steve Blesi, said after he received the news about his son. “It’s like being in a nightmare that you can’t wake up from.”

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Blesi told Channel 2′s Larry Spruill that his son was a student at KSU and was studying abroad in South Korea. Blesi said he talked to his son before he went out that night.

“We knew that him and his friends, they were going to go out, because they just finished midterms,” he said. “I texted him through WhatsApp because he’s over there and said, ‘I know you’re out and about, but be safe I love you.’”

Blesi told Spruill that shortly after that, he got a call from his brother asking if he had heard what happened in South Korea. He turned on the TV and saw the news that more than 150 people were killed.

“We started calling his phone through the WhatsApp, over and over, just kept calling for like two hours, where finally a police officer answered,” he said.

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Steven Blesi, an international business major, was one of 11 students from KSU in South Korea as part of a study abroad program. KSU said all other students are reported safe.

“On behalf of the entire Kennesaw State community, our thoughts and prayers go out to Steven’s family and friends as they mourn this incomprehensible loss,” said Kennesaw State University President Kathy Schwaig. “We have been in contact with Steven’s family and have offered all available resources of the University to them.”

The university has made counseling support available to students who have been impacted by this tragedy through Kennesaw State’s Counseling and Psychological Services.

Meanwhile, Steve Blesi said, “I can’t tell you the pain I’m feeling. I wish I not let him go.”

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