Bevin Prince Reveals Late Husband William Friend Joked About Getting ‘Struck by Lightning’ Before His Death: ‘I Believe It Was Really His Time’

10.12.2022 - 02:13 / usmagazine.com

A harrowing coincidence. One Tree Hill’s Bevin Prince opened up about the eerie comment her late husband, William Friend, made before his death.

“Right before [the lightning] hit him, he lit a cigar and he looked at my father and he said, ‘If we get struck by lightning, Mike, this is where I wanna be,’” Prince, 40, said during an appearance on Good Morning America on Friday, December 9. “And then it happened. I believe it was really his time.”

Friend died at the age of 33 on July 3 after being struck by lightning near his home in Wilmington, North Carolina. According to WECT News, the England native was on a boat near Masonboro Island when the accident occurred. EMTs attempted to resuscitate him for 20 minutes before he was pronounced dead from his injuries. 

On Friday, the fitness instructor told GMA that she believes there was “divinity” in her husband’s passing. 

“He was 33 years old. It was July 3 and I believe the exact time that the lightning struck was 3:13 p.m.,” she shared. “So knowing that all the resources were there to potentially save him, I have to believe that something bigger beyond me was calling him.”

Prince first broke her silence about the CEO’s death last week during an episode of the “1 on 1 With Jon Evans” podcast, calling the harrowing event an “absolute living nightmare.” 

“It was like any other day that we’d done a million times. The storm was far away, we’re on the boat, everything’s fine,” she explained. “And then in an instant, everything has changed. There’s no normal, and there’s no playbook for it.”

The Groupie actress added that while “some days, it doesn’t feel OK,” she reminds herself that she has “two options” in her grief: “I can stay here on this planet, or I cannot, and that’s not an