Lam Diing

Cal 1995 - 2018  (~ 23 years)

• Name	Lam Diing
  Born	CALC 12 Apr 1995	, Ethiopia
  Gender	Male
  Interesting	life story, crime, murder
  Misfortune	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  	murdered
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-156029
  Died	15 Apr 2018	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I156029	Generations
  Last Modified	25 Apr 2024

  
  

• Notes

  'We ache with you': More 600 people attend funeral for UW football player Lam Diing The big brother with "an infectious smile," was killed on April 15, three days after turning 23 KITCHENER Lam Diing was the oldest child in the Diing household '97 the big brother to six siblings. "He was the monster in the house who would chase after his little brother and pick you up and throw you over his shoulder like a football," Pastor Roland Syens told a packed sanctuary at Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church on Saturday as he spoke to Diing's younger siblings in the front pew. And no one was happier to see Lam than six-year-old Joseph who would run around the house shouting that Lam was home and he had pizza. "He had an infectious smile," Syens said. "We ache with you," he said. "We are here because Lam has touched all our lives." More than 600 people packed the Kitchener church, many in two overflow rooms in the basement including members of the University of Waterloo Warriors football team. Diing was buried Saturday after being killed on April 15, three days after turning 23. The service offered prayers and hymns in English, Arabic and the Nuer language. The football players, in their jerseys, formed an honour guard as Diing's casket was carried out of the church after the service. Two weeks ago, Diing was at a house party in the Stanley Park area of Kitchener and was stabbed in the neck after a fight. Nicholas Salim Ndayisenga, 22, faces a charge of second-degree murder in connection to Diing's death. The two men were known to each other. In his message, Syens described Diing's death as a "senseless" tragedy which started with young people at a party and ended with "one person in prison and one person in a mortuary." Syens praised the Sudanese community, both local and others who came from neighbouring cities, to support Diing's mother, Rebecca Goi and her children. Diing's father, Simon Chuol Diing, died in Calgary 10 years ago. "You know what hardship is. You know pain and hurt," Syens said. Many members of the Sudanese community came to Canada as refugees after a civil war tore their country apart. Most walked for days into Ethiopia and lived in a refugee camp before coming here. In 1995, Diing's parents fled South Sudan. Rebecca Goi was pregnant, carrying her first-born son, Diing. He was born in a village outside of the camp in Ethiopia. The family lived together in the camp until the second child, Dieng, was born. In Sudanese culture, the eldest child goes to live with grandparents while the mother tends to the newborn child, Syens said. Diing went to live with his grandmother. When it came time to prepare paperwork to come to Canada, only Diing's parents and his younger brother were in the camp. When his mother asked if she could go get Diing so that he could come to Canada too, she was told it would take five days by foot to get there and he would have to stay behind, Syens retold the story. The family came to Canada. Four-year-old Diing stayed behind. Eight years later, Diing's mother would return to Ethiopia and get her son back. Diing was 12 when he came to Kitchener. He went to Sunnyside Public School, graduated from Eastwood Collegiate Institute and was a third-year arts student at UW where he played as a wide receiver. "What a journey he was on," Syens said. "He had a difficult life. He knew struggle, he knew famine, he knew loss." Syens said Diing, like many of us, was navigating life and sometimes didn't get it right. There were times he missed practices and he was tardy for games. "It's hard to navigate those years. You're trying to figure out who you are, who to follow and who not to follow," he said. Pastor William Chuol, a close friend of the Diing family, said it's not easy to understand "why we are here at this moment," he told those gathered in the church. "It is a difficult journey to know who you are and who you should be," said Chuol, who went back to Ethiopia with Diing's mother to bring him to Canada. Choul said in the midst of pain and grief, there is hope that "Lam is with Jesus." "He came so far and set a great example for our people." lmonteiro@therecord.com, Twitter: @MonteiroRecord lmonteiro@therecord.com , Twitter: @MonteiroRecord Monteiro, L. (2018). 'We ache with you': More 600 people attend funeral for UW football player Lam Diing. TheRecord.com. Retrieved 29 April 2018, from https://www.therecord.com/news-story/8576160--we-ache-with-you-more-600-people-attend-funeral-for-uw-football-player-lam-diing/ _______________________________ Man sentenced in death of UW football player Nicholas Ndayisenga pleaded guilty on Monday to manslaughter for stabbing death of Lam Diing by James Jackson Waterloo Region Record KITCHENER - The man accused of killing a local university football player earlier this year has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and will spend the next seven years in prison. Nicholas Salim Ndayisenga was just 22 years old when he stabbed Lam Diing, 23, in the neck after a house party in the Stanley Park area of Kitchener. Police were called just after midnight on April 15 to a fight outside the house. Diing later died in hospital. Ndayisenga was originally charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter, said his lawyer, Brennan Smart, after the sentencing Monday morning. Ndayisenga was sentenced to eight years in prison and given credit for 350 days of time served. "Mr. Ndayisenga addressed the court prior to passing of sentence and apologized for his actions," said Smart, adding that Ndayisenga and Diing were friends. It was the region's first homicide of 2018. "I think it was an appropriate sentence," said Smart. Diing was born in Khartoum, Sudan, and came to Canada to escape the violence. He was 12 when he arrived in Kitchener. He attended Sunnyside Public School and graduated from Eastwood Collegiate before playing football for the University of Waterloo. The wide receiver had seven catches for 89 yards and a touchdown in 2017 and was invited to the CFL's Ontario regional combine in March. More than 600 people packed the Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kitchener, and Diing was praised for caring for his six siblings and his mother, and for his abilities as a student athlete. jjackson@therecord.com Jackson, J. (2018). Man sentenced in death of UW football player. TheRecord.com. Retrieved 4 December 2018, from https://www.therecord.com/news-story/9064299-man-sentenced-in-death-of-uw-football-player/

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - CALC 12 Apr 1995 - , Ethiopia Misfortune - murdered - - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 15 Apr 2018 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth