They cried, they laughed, they reflected. For those who knew Jerry Kiernan, this had all come too soon, a traumatic, impossibly grim situation that made no sense.
On Wednesday night, Kiernan had been texting friends shortly before going to bed, cracking a joke to one of them about Donald Trump. Hours later, he was gone.
The 67-year-old passed away in the early hours of Thursday morning and the cause is not yet known, though Kiernan had been struggling with his health for months and dealing with stomach complaints.
He had never been diagnosed with Covid-19, but had battled fatigue for a sustained period and thought he might have contracted it at some point. For those who knew him, he leaves behind a gaping void.