Syed Hoque is always there for his friends.
“Syed’s probably one of the kindest individuals I think anybody could possibly be lucky enough to meet,” said close friend Basilio Silla. “He’s just your all around good guy.”
Now, they are rallying around the Navy corpsman as he lies hospitalized in a medically induced coma after he was critically injured in a hit-and-run.
“We’re trying to make everything as easy as possible for his family,” Silla said. “We’re just trying to be there for him. It’s going to be a long road for him. We want to make sure we can raise enough money and he’s taken care of.”
Hoque, 25, was struck just after midnight Saturday, as he walked in the area of Highland Boulevard and Marlborough Avenue near his Absecon home.
The driver then fled, but was later found.
Hoque’s beloved Belgian Malinois, Duca, was killed.
Friends still are not sure of the details.
They know a passerby discovered Hoque and Duca, and called police.
Justin McGowan, one of Hoque’s housemates, said police knocked on the door at about 4 a.m., after they had figured out where he lived.
"It's just disturbing," he said of the driver leaving the scene. "It's feels like something's sitting on my chest just thinking about it."
Jeff Lentz said he got a text from Hoque at about 10 Friday night: “What are we going to do tomorrow?”
Hoque then called at 12:01 a.m., but there was just crackling, Lentz said.
He tried calling his friend back several times, but would not find out what happened until the next morning. Lentz isn’t sure if Hoque had been calling him when he was struck, or tried calling after.
The two met years ago when Hoque went to Lentz Mixed Martial Arts and Boxing in Mays Landing.
“He’s been with me ever since,” Lentz said. “We liked him so much, we decided hang out with him all the time.”
That’s also how Duca came into Hoque’s life.
Lentz trains dogs, and always has five or six at a time. Hoque started working with them as well, and decided he wanted a dog of his own.
Duca was a perfect fit, Lentz decided. So he gave her to his friend.
“He loved that dog more than anything in the world.”
Syed Hoque and DucaLetting Hoque know she did not make it will be the hardest part when he wakes up, his friends agreed.
The hardest part for them is not knowing what Hoque’s future holds.
McGowan recalled going into his friend’s bedroom after the crash.
Hoque had written that his goal was “to get out of my comfort zone.”
He also had a list of things he wanted to work to get, like a high-quality medical bag and hiking equipment.
Hoque loved to hike the mountains in Upstate New York. He would go alone, always making friends wherever he went.
He joined the Navy Reserve after graduating from Egg Harbor Township High School.
“He’s just the best, nicest person you ever want to be around,” Lentz said,
Silla recalled a line of 60 or 70 people coming to the hospital the first day visitors were allowed Hoque's room.
“He was always there for you when you needed him,” Lentz said, adding with a laugh: “He was a half-hour late, but he’s always there.”
“So many people are affected by this,” McGowan said. “I know he’d want us to be strong through this.”
