Tears and a Final 'Happy Birthday' for Stabbing Victim

After he was stabbed twice and his heart stopped beating until doctors resuscitated him, Hossain Saidian held on to life for five days. 

But on June 16, at the moment a visiting harpist finished playing "King of Hearts" in his room at Mission Hospital, the 32-year-old's heart stopped for the last time, as he was surrounded by family and friends.

The timing enabled his younger sister, Saba Abri, to attend her eighth-grade graduation that evening at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo, the town where Saidian lived.

"How selfless," his mother remarked, according to Shadi Ala'i Shaffer, a longtime family friend who was in the room when Saidian drew his last breath.

On Saturday, the same harpist strummed in the background as Saidian's generous spirit was celebrated at Saddleback Church by hundreds of friends and relatives, some of whom traveled from Iran, his family's place of origin, to honor his life.

Little was said about  or the both him and his friend as they and two others celebrated Saidian's birthday. 

Rather, speakers at the funeral dwelled on stories that reflected the love, care and lighthearted playfulness Saidian showed.

Annalisa Villar, Saidian's girlfriend of nearly one year, spoke words of hope and comfort, belied by the tears pouring down her face.

"Ever since the first day we met, we were inseparable," she said. "He showed me what true love really is."

Saidian was the "ultimate gentleman," she added, always rushing to open the door for her. "He just made you want to become a better person yourself," Villar said.

Villar had the same effect on Saidian, according to Saidian's stepfather, Fred Abri. "When you came into his life, you gave him purpose," Abri said, speaking directly to Villar. "He changed. He became truly a man with focus."

"You will be our daughter forever," Abri said to Villar, choking on the words.

For Peter Hashemloo, Saidian's best friend, Saturday was too soon to speak. So he had Shaffer read his words:

"I'm sorry I'm not saying this myself, but I refuse to accept what's happened and it's too difficult for me right now. ... He was and always will be the closest thing I'll have to a brother in this world. If there was no one else [there for me], there was Hossain."

On the night he was stabbed, Saidian made a point of telling Hashemloo he counted him as much a brother as his biological siblings, Hashemloo wrote.

"That night, I lost my brother, the best man at my wedding and the uncle to my kids," Shaffer read.

Hashemloo vowed to care for Saidian's family in the dark days ahead.

Greg Feldman, Saidian's boss and friend, said Saidian helped him launch three new businesses. Only weeks ago, they opened a new office together.

He was the "hardest-working and most honest kid I know," Feldman said. "No one ever had a bad word to say about him."

Feldman injected a moment of levity into the somber occasion when he mentioned Saidian's propensity for showing off his muscles.

"I really admired Hoss and he really admired himself," Feldman said to laughter. "Let's not remember the way he died, but the way he lived."

Pastor Josh Griffin, who officiated the ceremony, also made light of Saidian's chiseled physique. Motioning to various photos on the stage, including a larger-than-life shot of Saidian's bare torso, Griffin said he'd never been surrounded by so many shirtless pictures in his life.

As the service concluded, Saidian's stepfather asked audience members to hug the person on their right and left, a nod to Saidian's habit of embracing those close to him.

Afterward, during the burial service at El Toro Memorial Park, attendees sang "Happy Birthday" to Saidian at the request of his family.

Born in New Jersey on June 8, 1979, he was celebrating his birthday with friends the night he was stabbed.

Before Saidian's coffin was lowered into the ground, his mother, Fahimeh Abri, and Villar released white doves into the air, and others released white balloons, some kissing them as if the balloons could carry their love, undiminished by his death, to Saidian.