Nick Cordero's Best Friend Zach Braff Mourns His Death: 'I Have Honestly Never Known a Kinder Person'
Zach Braff is paying tribute to his close friend Nick Cordero after his death. He was 41.
"Nick Cordero passed at 11:40am today with his wife and mother by his side," the Scrubs star, 45, shared on Instagram Sunday after Cordero's wife Amanda Kloots confirmed the Broadway actor's death on her Instagram page.
"I have honestly never known a kinder person. But Covid doesn’t care about the purity of your soul, or the goodness in your heart," Braff said.
Cordero, who starred in Broadway productions of Waitress and Rock of Ages, and earned a Tony Award nomination for Bullets Over Broadway, died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he had been hospitalized for over 90 days due to complications of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Cordero is survived by his wife Kloots and their 1-year-old son Elvis Eduardo.
Walter McBride/FilmMagic Nick Cordero and Zach Braff
"The last thing he ever texted me was to look out for his wife and one year old son, Elvis. I promise the world they will never want for anything," Braff wrote, adding, "I feel so incredibly grateful I got to have Nick Cordero enter my life. Rest In Peace. Rest in Power."
RELATED: Broadway Star Nick Cordero Dies at 41 After Over 90 Days in Hospital from Coronavirus Complications
A post shared by Zach Braff (@zachbraff) on Jul 5, 2020 at 6:55pm PDT
Kloots revealed in late March that her husband was in intensive care and “having a hard time breathing” after being diagnosed with pneumonia. Days later, the fitness trainer revealed that doctors determined he had the coronavirus and was put on a ventilator after a day in the ICU. He became unconscious March 31 and woke from a medically-induced coma on May 12.
Over the course of 13 weeks, the Tony Award-nominated star endured several difficulties during his hospitalization, including undergoing a leg amputation and procedures for a temporary pacemaker.
RELATED: Nick Cordero Receives Sweet Tribute from Zach Braff and Rock of Ages Cast After Waking Up from Coma
In an April interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Braff said he was helping to care for Cordero's wife and son during his coronavirus battle.
"I'm very close to this because one of my best friends in the world, Nick Cordero, and his wife [Amanda Kloots] and baby have been living in my guest house for seven months as they were house-shopping in L.A. to make the move out here," Braff shared, adding that, at the time, Cordero had coronavirus "worse than anyone I've heard of who hasn't passed away."
"He's 41 and he's unconscious at Cedars — he's on a ventilator. He's lost his leg due to complications and every day we don't know what will happen. So, his wife and baby are living in my guest house, and thank God they've been joined by her amazing brother and sister who are taking care of her and helping her with the baby," he said.
In support of Cordero's family, a GoFundMe page was created to raise funds for his medical bills.
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