[HN Gopher] Zain Nadella, Satya Nadella's son, dies at 26
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       Zain Nadella, Satya Nadella's son, dies at 26
        
       Author : softwarebeware
       Score  : 250 points
       Date   : 2022-03-01 17:29 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.ibtimes.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.ibtimes.com)
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | nojonestownpls wrote:
       | My heart goes out to the Nadella family.
       | 
       | I would suggest either of these two as a better link for this:
       | 
       | https://www.ibtimes.com/zain-nadella-microsoft-ceo-satya-nad...
       | 
       | https://www.geekwire.com/2022/zain-nadella-1996-2022-microso...
       | 
       | The Yahoo! article is both lazily written and lazily edited
       | ("Microsoft says ..." is an unnecessary and unfortunate title
       | prefix, for news of this kind.)
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Ok, changed from https://finance.yahoo.com/news/microsoft-says-
         | son-ceo-satya-.... Thanks.
        
       | jimbob45 wrote:
       | It seems like the unspoken implication is that the umbilical cord
       | wrapped around the baby's neck, resulting in in-utero
       | asphyxiation? However, the baby was born weighing only three
       | pounds, which would seem to signify something else wrong prior to
       | the asphyxiation, no?
        
         | maronato wrote:
         | My understanding is that the baby was prematurely removed
         | because of the asphyxiation
        
         | __s wrote:
         | My sister had a knot in her umbilical cord. She ended up coming
         | out alright, but started out very thin. The cord is cut off
         | from adequately feeding the fetus
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | lukewrites wrote:
       | Deepest sympathy for the Nadella family as they grieve the loss
       | of their son.
        
       | agumonkey wrote:
       | courage to him and his family
        
       | hemloc_io wrote:
       | Having had to deal with this personally it's on of the hardest
       | things to go through.
       | 
       | Best wishes to them and their family. :(
        
       | myth_drannon wrote:
       | March is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month.
        
       | pjbeam wrote:
       | One of my biggest hopes is to be survived by all of my children.
       | I can't imagine what it's like to bury your child. All the best
       | to the Nadellas :/
        
         | san_dimitri wrote:
         | I think the accepted term for a parent who lost their child is
         | Vilomah.
         | 
         | https://dying.lovetoknow.com/ideas-advice-coping-grief/vilom...
        
         | rodgerd wrote:
         | When Malaysia Airlines 17 was shot down by Russia, a local part
         | of the story was a couple whose three children were all on the
         | flight.
         | 
         | How do you even go on after that?
        
           | adamredwoods wrote:
           | Some people turn to religion, others try to find a purpose
           | for it (cause or charity, see Sandy Hook Promise[1]), and
           | sometimes others don't find a way to go on.
           | 
           | [1] https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/who-we-are/about-us/
        
         | crescentfresh wrote:
         | > One of my biggest hopes
         | 
         | Nice way to flip "my greatest fear"
        
         | a4isms wrote:
         | There is a story about this:
         | 
         |  _An emperor commissioned a work from the greatest calligrapher
         | in the nation. "Make me something auspicious!" was the brief.
         | The calligrapher thought for a moment, then wrote on a banner:_
         | 
         |  _Parents die. Emperor dies. Children die._
         | 
         |  _The emperor was outraged. "How is this auspicious? It speaks
         | only of death!" The calligrapher was serene. "Emperor, there is
         | nothing more auspicious than for your deaths to occur in the
         | natural order. Would you have wanted to die before your
         | parents? Would you want your children to die before you?_
        
         | myth_drannon wrote:
         | Because it is so traumatic, many languages don't have a word
         | for a parent who lost a child. You have Orphans, Widows...
        
           | stocknoob wrote:
           | I think, unfortunately, it was so common as to not be
           | notable. People had way more kids, and there was much more
           | infant mortality. Still tragic of course.
        
             | mmcdermott wrote:
             | > I think, unfortunately, it was so common as to not be
             | notable. People had way more kids, and there was much more
             | infant mortality. Still tragic of course.
             | 
             | More common, perhaps, but I'm not so sure about the not
             | notable part. There are plenty of examples of great grief
             | surrounding the loss of a child. An example that comes to
             | mind from my recent reading is Dostoevsky and "The Brothers
             | Karamazov." The author was experiencing grief from the loss
             | of a 3 year old son and the book rings with it.
             | 
             | However much the past is a different country, it is still
             | populated by humans, same as any today.
        
           | syrrim wrote:
           | The lack of word suggests the opposite, that it was extremely
           | common. Indeed, historically, nearly everyone would have lost
           | a young child, and many people would have lost an older
           | child.
        
             | spockz wrote:
             | The fact that it was common doesn't make it less traumatic.
        
               | giantg2 wrote:
               | Everything is relative and our expectations are set by
               | society and what is common. Today, losing a child is
               | pretty uncommon. 3-4 generations ago if was very common.
               | You expected to have 4-10 children and to lose one or
               | two. It wouldn't be a pleasant experience, but I think
               | it's incorrect to say it wasn't less traumatic (you
               | expected it, you lost a lower percentage, etc). To quote
               | Clint Eastwood's character in Gran Torino, "You're geared
               | for it".
        
               | robertlagrant wrote:
               | You're missing the point - check out the parent of the
               | comment you're replying to.
        
               | _rutinerad wrote:
               | And no one suggested that it does.
        
           | washadjeffmad wrote:
           | It wasn't long ago that children commonly weren't named until
           | they survived two years.
           | 
           | Bureaucratic dehumanization is responsible for reinforcing
           | traumas that cultures had already built ways of dealing with.
           | My grandparents' generation reused the names of their
           | children who didn't survive, but today, few couples would
           | consider that with any name they were forced to write on both
           | a birth and death certificate.
        
           | Beltalowda wrote:
           | That's from Six Feet Under, no?
           | 
           | There's some good poetic value in it, but I don't know if
           | it's actually true. It has more to do with the effect it has
           | for someone's "normal" life cycle, which is why orphan is
           | only applied to children and not adults. And as the sibling
           | comment mentions, it was pretty common in a family of ~5-10
           | to have at least one child die.
        
             | [deleted]
        
           | bregma wrote:
           | Up until the English language stopped evolving so rapidly,
           | the word for that was "normal".
        
         | spoonjim wrote:
         | For severely disabled children most parents hope to outlive
         | their kids because they know that nobody will give them a
         | parent's love when they are gone, even with Satya Nadella-level
         | money. There have been some (tragic? bittersweet? I don't know)
         | cases where an aging parent of a disabled child kills the child
         | and then kills themselves to ensure that their kid doesn't get
         | institutionalized after they're gone.
        
       | schnevets wrote:
       | > Satya, who took over the role of CEO in 2014, had been working
       | on designing products to better serve users with disabilities. He
       | said he had been using lessons he learned while raising and
       | supporting Zain.
       | 
       | Within the video games space, Microsoft and Sony have had an
       | intriguing "arms race" related to accessibility across their
       | platform. I can only assume Zain's condition was a motivating
       | factor for Nadella.
        
       | spoonjim wrote:
       | Satya shared some information about Zain's story about 5 years
       | ago: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/moment-forever-changed-our-
       | li...
        
       | hit8run wrote:
       | This is so sad... Love to everyone that has lost someone.
        
       | hrvach wrote:
       | There is nothing in this world more difficult and heartbreaking
       | than losing a child and I pray to God nobody has to go through
       | this. Deepest sympathies for the entire family.
        
       | rubyist5eva wrote:
       | This is just heart wrenching, no parent should ever have to bury
       | their children.
        
       | tombert wrote:
       | I'm really lucky to where most of the people that I care a lot
       | about are still alive, but I realize that that's a finite luxury.
       | Sooner or later either I or one of those people are going to die,
       | and it's going to be sad.
       | 
       | I think I'm gonna call my mom.
        
         | seanmcdirmid wrote:
         | I've lost both of my parents already (I'm 46), but if I ever
         | lost my son I couldn't take it. Reading about anyone losing
         | their kids is painful since I became a parent myself.
        
         | itake wrote:
         | dads need love too!
        
         | godelmachine wrote:
         | My mom is being treated for resistant schizophrenia and she's
         | in a rehab. I get to talk with her only when the Counsellor is
         | on duty.
         | 
         | When I visited my mom last month, she was complaining she
         | doesn't like 8 people ward coz of zero privacy and the need to
         | share washrooms. She's been brought up as a princess and was
         | highly pampered, being everyone's favorite, and finds it tough
         | staying in such accommodations. She told me she wanted a single
         | room to herself. I told her it's not good staying alone, we
         | will get you into a double occupancy room, so there's someone
         | in the room in case something untoward happens.
         | 
         | Today, she called me via the Counsellor today after a week, and
         | the call got disconnected in about a few seconds coz of bad
         | network.
         | 
         | I later called up the hospital but the Counsellor had left.
         | However, I had her shifted from an 8 people ward to a 4 people
         | ward today. It's because the rehab administrator advised that
         | we have 4 people ward as well if you wanna consider. I said ask
         | mom and see what she like - 4 sharing or 2 sharing. The admin
         | called up 10 min and said your mom was okay with 4 sharing, and
         | we have moved her there.
         | 
         | Tomorrow, I will call her to ensure she's comfortable in 4
         | sharing and if she does not like, next month I move her to 2
         | sharing.
         | 
         | Just a random post reading your comment.
        
         | bufordtwain wrote:
         | You definitely should. My mom was in a bad car accident some
         | years ago and barely survived. Since that time I call her twice
         | a week without fail. At this point I feel much more at peace
         | with whatever happens.
        
         | rootusrootus wrote:
         | Much of my adult life was the same way. We used to talk about
         | how great our family had it -- we went for decades without
         | losing anyone close. We knew eventually our turn would come,
         | but I treasured the time we did have.
         | 
         | But come it did, about 7 years ago. Since then I've lost two
         | brothers, my dad, my grandparents, and my best friend. The
         | trite "fuck cancer" statement comes to mind regularly. Another
         | friend of mine has cancer, my mom has terminal cancer, my
         | stepmother has cancer...
         | 
         | > I think I'm gonna call my mom.
         | 
         | Always a good plan, I highly recommend it. I think I will do
         | the same. Treasure your loved ones, even when times are good it
         | can change suddenly.
        
           | wnolens wrote:
           | The same has happened to me. It's been almost every 1-2 years
           | for the past 10 that I experience another great loss. Most
           | recently was my mother. That one was/still is tough.
        
           | adamredwoods wrote:
           | I've also lost several loved ones from cancer. Stopping the
           | metastatic progression is key to survival, but wow do
           | cancerous cells ever know how to survive. We need to win
           | this.
        
       | fghorow wrote:
       | As the Dad of a preemie, our only child who died at age 25, my
       | heart goes out to the Nadella family.
       | 
       | It would not surprise me in the least if Nadella steps down as
       | CEO sooner rather than later. The trauma is that large.
        
       | pnathan wrote:
       | Condolences to Mr. Nadella & family.
       | 
       | When my son was born, he had experienced symmetric intra-uterine
       | growth restriction; something that seems like Zain Nadella
       | experienced as well. It was clear looking at the photos in the
       | NICU and meeting different parents, that some things come for us
       | all, rich and poor.
        
       | kizer wrote:
       | Wow. I'm so, so sorry for Satya and his family. Zain seems like
       | he was a beautiful person. What an absolute titan of a father,
       | who not only has achieved incredible success, but who also made
       | sure to share proudly with the world of technology all the
       | lessons he learned about accessibility from Zain and the
       | perspective of the disabled. Zain and Satya, you've made such an
       | impact. God bless you.
        
       | polysaturate wrote:
       | Honest question...what specifically about Cerebral palsy would
       | cause death at an early age (27 is early to die in modern times,
       | IMHO)?
        
         | myth_drannon wrote:
         | Too many to list. But by the photos of it looks like it was
         | severe, when the body is not able to move you get all kinds of
         | chronic diseases. I think I read somewhere that pneumonia is
         | number one because of the difficulty of eating and drinking and
         | the food or liquids constantly get into the lungs.
        
         | cardine wrote:
         | My older brother (currently 31) has severe cerebral palsy -
         | very similar to what Zain had.
         | 
         | He has been healthy recently, but there have been many close
         | calls. He has frequent seizures and many normally routine
         | things can be life threatening. Others have mentioned things
         | like pneumonia.
         | 
         | He requires 24/7 medical attention, including a nurse who stays
         | with him every night in case, among other things, his seizures
         | get out of control. Thankfully for him, my mom is a nurse and
         | we are fortunate that health insurance covers a very large
         | amount of his medically necessary care.
        
         | chemeng wrote:
         | Depends on the severity of the condition, but if swallow is
         | affected I believe aspiration, pneumonia, choking, are causes
         | of premature death for CP.
        
           | johntiger1 wrote:
           | it sucks but when the underlying condition is so severe,
           | something trivial/mundane and preventable in a healthy person
           | is usually cause of death
        
         | HideousKojima wrote:
         | Can't speak to palsy but I had a friend with muscular dystrophy
         | who passed in his late 20's. He couldn't swallow his own spit,
         | and every 10 minutes or so I (or his attending nurse, or
         | whoever he was spending time with) would need to help him drain
         | it. He had the same sort of little vacuum that your dentist
         | uses to get water out of your mouth during a cleaning or
         | filling. I moved out of my hometown a few years before he
         | passed so I don't know all the details, but I'm pretty sure his
         | death had to do with respitory issues caused by his weakened
         | muscles.
        
           | trhway wrote:
           | speaking as total layman wrt. medicine, i wonder whether it
           | is possible to at least improve the condition a bit by
           | implanting electrodes and triggering the needed muscle(s)
           | similar to say pacemakers.
        
             | 1adam1200 wrote:
             | In diseases like muscular dystrophy there are no muscles to
             | stimulate.
        
               | HideousKojima wrote:
               | There are still muscles, they slowly deteriorate over
               | time though. When my friend was in 2nd grade or so he
               | could still run and play with the other kids. For a few
               | years after that he could still use a controller to play
               | video games. As he deteriorated further, he couldn't even
               | do that, and got most of his enjoyment from watching
               | other people play games. Heartbreakingly his nephew, who
               | was named after my friend, also suffers from muscular
               | dystrophy since it's a genetic illness.
        
             | Calavar wrote:
             | I am a physician, though not a specialist in that
             | particular area (otolaryngology).
             | 
             | A healthy heart contracts exactly the same way (nearly)
             | every time. There is a single electrical tree that
             | coordinates the entire heart, so if you shock the tree at
             | the right point, it will propagate down the entire tree in
             | a predictable pattern and you get normal heart contraction
             | "for free"
             | 
             | The throat is orders of magnitude more complicated. There
             | are several major muscles involved in swallowing, each of
             | which can have tens to hundreds of thousands of individual
             | fibers, each with their own innervation. Coordinating all
             | these fibers to produce a single coherent motion is complex
             | and is not fire and forget - it involves some pretty
             | intricate feedback loops between processing centers in the
             | brain and stretch receptors in the muscle, with the brain
             | refining and redirecting movements based on updated data
             | from the stretch receptors.
             | 
             | It's like the sending a single strong electrical pulse to
             | your lightbulb versus a CPU. It will probably do what you
             | expect for the lightbulb (heart), but not for the CPU
             | (throat).
        
               | im3w1l wrote:
               | > sending a single strong electrical pulse
               | 
               | Technology is way further along than that though, e.g.
               | https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60258620
        
       | throwaway5752 wrote:
       | Deepest condolences to the Nadella family. Their love for their
       | son and his memory are a blessing.
       | 
       | If you have been exposed to software accessibility, you know how
       | challenging technology can be for people with even minor
       | disabilities. Zain's father's love and dedication has had a
       | profound impact improving the lives of many others.
        
       | gigatexal wrote:
       | Condolences to the Nadellas
        
       | wanderingmind wrote:
       | Sometimes when I complain about small aspects of my comfortable
       | life, I need to look around and see people like Satya, who was
       | able to not just juggle but be extraordinary in both his personal
       | and professional lives. I just cant imagine how he did it. A true
       | inspiration.
        
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