‘We just celebrated his birthday’: Friends and family mourn Wilfred Lee at wake after sudden death at 26
When Wilfred Lee’s mother and brother opened his bedroom door on the evening of Sept 2, he looked like he was sleeping.
But his fingers had already begun to turn blue.
“I was shaking and shaking him, but it was no use. His body was cold already,” said Wilfred’s mother, Marilyn Lee.
Wilfred’s family first confirmed in Instagram comments on Sept 5 that the 26-year-old actor and content creator had died in his sleep.
Marilyn had last spoken to her son on Monday evening. She had told him about her sore eye and that she would be seeing a doctor the next day to get it checked.
She spent the following day resting and did not speak to Wilfred.
The first sign that something might be wrong came on Sept 2, when Wilfred’s father, SK Lee, who was in China, received a call from one of his son’s friends. They were supposed to meet Wilfred that day but had been unable to contact him.
When Marilyn returned home from work later that evening, her older son, Warren Lee, told her that Wilfred’s friends had been “looking for him”.
They checked Wilfred’s bedroom door and found it locked, which was not unusual for him.
However, they could tell that the air conditioning was still turned on and knew “he must still be inside”.
When Wilfred did not respond to Marilyn calling out to him, she looked for a spare key.
After opening his door at around 11pm, they found him lying on his side in bed, still wearing the eye mask he usually wore to sleep.
But he did not wake up.
The family immediately called an ambulance. When paramedics arrived shortly after, they told Marilyn there was no way of reviving her son.
‘We just celebrated his birthday in August’
When Stomp attended the wake on Sept 6, about 40 to 50 family members and friends were seen filtering in and out of the Silver Hall at Singapore Casket to pay their respects.
Among them was one of Wilfred’s closest friends, Isabel Lim, who was pasting photos of him around the room.
Speaking to Stomp, Lim said his death “doesn’t feel real”.
“I just saw him last week, we were planning to have a camping trip,” the 28-year-old shared.
“He bought a tent recently and thought all of us could get together on one of the weekends in October.”
Lim had also just celebrated Wilfred’s birthday with him after he turned 26 on Aug 7. The pair first met through the nightlife scene in 2016 and had been close friends ever since.
She said she was at work on Sept 4 when she received the news of Wilfred’s death.
“He was so full of life, he’s also the baby of the (friend) group. I never expected him to go first.”
She was also proud of how far Wilfred had come in his career.
Lim had watched him perform in his first play in polytechnic and was excited to see him become a “hot commodity”, booking commercials and acting gigs through his content creation work.
“He’s very loud and adventurous, but he’s also very kind and understanding, always giving people benefit of the doubt.”
Brought a positive energy ‘wherever he went’
Director and talent manager Dinie Rahman, 37, who had worked closely with Wilfred on a campaign for Puma, echoed Lim’s sentiments.
“He was simply a good person,” Dinie said. “Wilfred was a professional through and through and treated everyone on set with kindness and respect. He brought this positive energy wherever he went.”
He shared that Wilfred was always open about his life and aspirations, and had set his sights on getting on television and exploring opportunities overseas.
The pair were still in the midst of discussing future projects when Dinie learnt of his death.
“I found myself genuinely rooting for him. I wanted to see him win in life... I just wish I had more time to help him get there.”
Cause of death not known
When asked what could have caused her son’s death, Marilyn said she did not know.
She told Stomp that police officers arrived after the ambulance was called and informed the family that they would be performing an autopsy.
The results, she said, would “probably take some time”.
Stomp has reached out to the police for more information.
Reflecting on her decade-long friendship with Wilfred, Lim described his death as “so devastating”.
“My heart feels so heavy.”
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