Dreams cut short for Tanzanian basket baller Bidan
Samson Charles Bidan
What you need to know:
US-based Tanzanian basket baller was determined to work hard to realise his dreams
Dar es Salaam. Following in the footsteps of Hasheem Thabeet, Samson Charles Bidan a US-based Tanzanian basket baller and Jitegemee Secondary School alumni was determined to work hard to realise his dreams.
The 20-year old basketballer, seven-foot tall Bidan, died on July 11, after a kayak he was in hit a sand pit just off the North Platte River.
It took five days for the authorities to recover the body. The area’s media outlets quoted the local Sheriff’s office as saying Bidan and one other kayaker were shunted by the current into the sand pit and overturned, while kayaking on the North Platte River.
The other kayaker reached safety, but Bidan was not so lucky.
He was set to begin his first year in the NPCC basketball programme, when the 2016/17 season got underway.
A memorial service for Samson was held on July 14 in the US.
Dozens attended a service at the North Platte Berean Church, he frequented, to pay their final respects.
The church organised a fund-raising to collect money to send his body back home in Tanzania. Hailing from Serengeti District, he had been residing in Dar es Salaam and was playing in the national basketball league.
