A former beauty pageant finalist and TikTok star suffered a horrible death at a young age. She was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late.
Tanya Pardazi, who had previously competed in the Miss Canada beauty pageant and made it to the semi-finals, became a TikTok star after amassing a large following under the handle “philosatea” while enrolled at the University of Toronto, where she was studying philosophy. Sadly, the comments underneath the TikTok star’s posts suddenly became filled with tributes from fans who were left devastated by the tragic news that the former beauty pageant finalist had suffered a horrible death, the Independent reported.
Pardazi, who “had an interest in anything that was new and adventurous,” according to a childhood friend, had just taken a skydiving course with Skydive Toronto Inc in Innisfil, Ontario, which qualified the 21-year-old to skydive on her own. After completing the required day of “ground school,” where maneuvers are practiced from the safety of the ground, Pardazi was ready for her first solo jump. Unfortunately, her first time skydiving alone, rather than attached in tandem with an experienced instructor, ended in tragedy.
Pardazi “released a quickly rotating main parachute at a low altitude without the time/altitude required for the reserve parachute to inflate,” according to a statement from the skydiving company. “The jumper was a welcomed recent addition to the skydiving community and will be missed amongst the student’s new friends and fellow jumpers of Skydive Toronto Inc,” the statement added. “The team at Skydive Toronto Inc has been profoundly affected by this accident as they have refined their student training program for over 50 years.”
Skydive Toronto Inc claimed they had trained Pardazi on how to transition to her second parachute in the rare scenario that her main one did not work, but it was seemingly all in vain as the TikTok star reportedly crashed to the ground from 4,000 feet in the air. Paramedics responded quickly. Pardazi was rushed to the hospital following her jump, in which she had opened her parachute too late, but she was pronounced dead shortly after her arrival at the hospital, having succumbed to fatal injuries from the fall.
Tanya Pardazi’s untimely death came as a shock to both the TikTok community and her family and friends, who remembered her as “one of the bravest girls,” according to CTV News Toronto. “Life was too boring for her, and she was always trying to do something adventurous. She really lived every second to the fullest,” her childhood friend Melody Ozgoli recalled. “This is the biggest shock to us. It’s very hard to process,” Pardazi’s friend added shortly after her tragic passing.
According to Ozgoli, Pardazi was so much more than a pretty face. She was described by her friend as outgoing, adventurous, open-minded, always there for others, and intelligent, according to CNN. “She was definitely known for how beautiful she was, but what she was known mostly for was her incredible mind. That is the one thing that every single person that I talked to mentioned, just how bright she was, how smart she was, how much she knew,” Ozgoli said.
In addition to being remembered as a “brave” person, Pardazi was known for “picking up new hobbies,” according to Ozgoli. Those close to her also reflected on Pardazi’s popularity. Ozgoli, who called her friend a “gift to the world,” said the funeral was well-attended. Others agreed that Pardazi was well-loved. “Everyone who met her thought the world of her,” Kimia Sepanlou, another close friend, explained. “Whenever we saw her, we knew we were in for an adventure because she didn’t like letting herself, or the people closest to her, get bored.”
The University of Toronto’s cheerleading team also remembered Tanya Pardazi fondly, paying tribute to the late TikTok star on Instagram. “Forever part of our team and in our hearts, Tanya Pardazi was one in a million,” they wrote in a caption next to a photo of the former beauty pageant finalist that the page posted in her remembrance. Any untimely death is tragic, but it feels even more so when the person meets an early demise that could have been avoided and that person had so much going for them. Our thoughts and prayers are with Tanya Pardazi’s loved ones as they are left to live with this tragic loss.
