Nick Cordero's Death Prompts Tender Tribute From Best Friend Zach Braff: 'Never Known a Kinder Human Being'

Scrubs actor Zach Braff shared a heartbreaking tribute to his friend Nick Cordero, who died from [...]

Scrubs actor Zach Braff shared a heartbreaking tribute to his friend Nick Cordero, who died from coronavirus complications Sunday morning. Braff and Cordero worked on Broadway together, starring in Bullets Over Broadway in 2014. In his tribute, Braff said he has "never known a kinder human being" than Cordero. The Tony-nominated actor was 41.

Braff shared a black and white photo of Cordero with his wife, Amanda Kloots. Cordero died with his wife and mother by his side, Braff noted. "I have honestly never known a kinder person. But Covid doesn't care about the purity of your soul, or the goodness in your heart," Braff wrote. He added that the last thing Cordero ever texted him was a request to "look out" for Kloots and their 1-year-old son Elvis.

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"I promise the world they will never want for anything. I feel so incredibly grateful I got to have Nick Cordero enter my life," Braff added. "Rest in Peace. Rest in Power." Kloots responded to the message, simply writing, "We love you ZB. Thank you, friend."

Braff also shared one of Cordero's final filmed performances in his Instagram Story, courtesy of actress Florence Pugh. She filmed the performance in April 2019. In her post, Pugh noted that Cordero did not suffer from any preexisting conditions before he tested positive for the coronavirus. "Help the world by continuing to take this virus seriously," she wrote. "Wear your mask, respect others' space, clean your hands and please be safe. This is far from over."

In April, when The Hollywood Reporter asked Braff what he was doing during the coronavirus pandemic, he quickly explained how he was helping Kloots and Elvis, who were living in his guest house while they searched for a home in Los Angeles. "He's a very beloved man, one of the kindest people you'll ever meet, and he was on Blue Bloods, too, so all of these different communities that he's touched are coming together," Braff told THR. "Every day at 3 p.m. she does this thing where she plays his song and people all over the world play it, too. It's all very, very moving. And my neighborhood has rallied around her as well. There's just a non-stop stream of people dropping things off."

Cordero spent more than 90 days in the ICU at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and tested positive for the coronavirus early during his hospitalization. Although he later tested negative for the virus, his struggles continued. He was in a medically-induced coma for weeks, needed a temporary pacemaker and had one of his legs amputated. His friends started a GoFundMe page to help Kloots with medical expenses in April, but it has now been updated to a memorial fund. Over 10,000 donors have helped raise over $669,000 to help Cordero's family.

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