26-year-old Puerto Rican man with ‘a big heart’ died in Surfside collapse, police say
Luis Bermúdez, a 26-year-old man from Puerto Rico and seventh floor resident of Champlain Towers South, was killed after the residential building collapsed on Thursday morning, according to family members and the Miami-Dade Police Department.
“God decided that he wanted one more angel in heaven. I still do not believe it. I LOVE you and will love you forever,” his father, also named Luis Bermúdez, wrote on his Facebook page.
In a photograph below the message, the elder Bermúdez embraced his son as his child smiled at the camera. The grieving father said the photo was one of the most beautiful they had together, and wrote a note on the photo’s back.
“My Luiyo. You gave me everything,” he wrote in black ink. “I will miss you all my life. ... I will never leave you alone.”
“Taking care of us from heaven!” his aunt Magui Bermúdez said. “Fly high my warrior!!!”
Cascades of messages of comfort, remembrance and love for Luiyo, as he was nicknamed by loved ones, flowed on social media.
“THANK YOU so much for the laughter, experiences and above all, LIVING life to the fullest,” a friend of the family wrote on Facebook. The Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed that Bermúdez and his mother, Ana Ortiz, 46, had been identified as victims on Sunday night.
Ortiz and Bermúdez disappeared along with Ortiz’s newlywed husband, Frankie Kleiman. Frankie’s mother, Nancy Kress Levin, lived on the same floor, and his brother Jay Kleiman was visiting from Puerto Rico at the time of the collapse. The three have been missing since much of the building fell down Thursday, leaving rubble, shards and debris where the 12-story residential tower once stood.
Luis Andrés Bermúdez, nicknamed Luiyo by loved ones, was born on Dec. 6, 1994. He described himself as a man with “a big heart” who was “happy to live another day” and who had “big dreams and ideas.”
One person interviewed described him as “the light of the eyes of his father,” and many friends close to the family told the Miami Herald he was adored by his parents and relatives. The elder Bermúdez arrived in Miami soon after the building fell to await news of his child and others.
“To call him unforgettable is an understatement,” wrote Jose J. Ortiz Carlo, a teacher from Bermudez’s high school.
Bermúdez had muscular dystrophy and used a wheelchair. Ortiz Carlo described the young man as a “silent warrior” who never missed class and was always smiling.
“Luis Andres is an example of courage and bravery FOR ALL of us. ... Luis taught us more about COURAGE, PERSEVERANCE, and about how to make the best of one’s LIFE than any book, any lesson or any theory,” wrote the educator.
Bermúdez was also the owner of a clothing business called Saucy Boyz Clothing. Many of the shirts, socks, and hats are covered in colorful sketches of sushi, a food he loved.
Luiyo shared time lapse videos of his creative process. Wearing a shirt of his own design, he grabbed the markers in his right hand, and drew vivid nigiri and maki rolls onto the white page.
The 26-year-old said his condition meant he had difficulty using his hands and fingers. But he was persistent and found a way to make his art.
“Because of my attitude I have achieved my dream,” he shared on his Instagram. “The purpose of these designs is to share my art with the world and let them know that despite whatever impediments they may have, they can achieve what they set out in their mind and heart. There are no limits.”
