Peter Zhu, a 21-year-old cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, suffered fatal injuries while skiing on Feb. 23.
Cadet Peter L. Zhu is shown in this undated photo provided by the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. By Allyson Chiu Allyson Chiu Reporter Email Bio Follow March 5 at 7:11 AM Peter Zhu’s parents said their son always wanted to be a father.
“Peter’s death was a horrific, tragic and sudden nightmare that neither of us could have prepared for,” his parents wrote in the filing, seeking a judge’s permission to obtain their son’s genetic material. “We are desperate to have a small piece of Peter that might live on and continue to spread the joy and happiness that Peter brought to all of our lives.”
Peter’s condition, however, only worsened and on Wednesday afternoon, his parents received the news that he was brain dead. “We lost a brother today, and the pain will be felt for a long time,” Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, the academy’s superintendent, told the Army Times. “Would we want, at the moment that a death occurs, to have doctors asking: ‘Do we harvest eggs? Do we harvest sperm?’" Capron asked. “This is not for the betterment of the human condition.”
Peter was the sole male child in his family and in Chinese culture, only sons can pass down a family name, his parents wrote. According to the documents, the hospital had a urologist who was “ready and willing” to perform the procedure as long as they obtained a court order.
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