The cast of “One Tree Hill” gathered around former co-star Bevin Prince as she mourns the death of her husband, who died after being struck by lightning.
One-time guest actress Reese Lasher posted a photo of Prince and husband William Friend on Wednesday, writing that it was “excruciating” to see her best friend lose her 33-year-old husband.
“Their love was so inspiring—greater than life—imperfectly perfect,” Lasher wrote. “They knew what they had, they worked for it, they nurtured the good in each other so deeply… and they held on tight.
“They really grew into their dreams two years ago when they moved to North Carolina and have lived in it ever since. They were so happy.”
Lasher wrote that their love was “stronger than lightning” [sic] bolt that cost him his life.”
The now senior director of marketing at Playboy asked fans to take a look at the GoFundMe page created in his memory to support Prince’s venture, Recess.
Actress Sophia Bush, who played Brooke Davis on the CW series, shared Lasher’s post via her Instagram Stories, adding her own feelings.
“Broken hearted and at a loss… Our family is grieving for one of our own,” she wrote Wednesday night. “Please elevate @bevinaprince in any way you can. Show her the love she derives; the love her husband always showed her.”
Hilarie Burton, who played Peyton Sawyer in “One Tree Hill,” also shared a photo of her, Prince and co-star Danneel Ackles, praising the widow’s strength.
“She’s slightly personified,” the actress described her boyfriend in an Instagram post on Thursday, calling Friend’s death “inscrutable.”
Burton acknowledged that Prince — who played Bevin’s character on “OTH” — and Friend “believed in Wilmington (where he died) and the community there.” So much so that they left New York City amid the COVID-19 pandemic for North Carolina and opened a fitness studio together.
Ackles also shared a series of Instagram snaps of the couple on Thursday alongside a tribute to Friend.
“It’s hard to find the words to describe the loss of someone like you, Will,” the actress wrote. “You’ve done more in your 33 years than most will do in your life. Your curiosity and zeal for each new adventure was [sic] contageous.”
Ackles recalled Friend’s “way of encouraging people to push their limits and only reach for potential,” he saw. She added that despite his many accomplishments, he would say marrying Prince was his greatest, whom she described as his “great love.”
She concluded: “When I look around the house you’ve made, and the beautiful memories and pictures you’ve decorated, I’m so glad you found each other, if only for a while. [sic], and lived in such love. We will miss you forever.”
Friend died Sunday after eyewitnesses called authorities after he was struck by lightning on a boat.
WECT6 News, which was the first to report the news, revealed that EMS attempted to resuscitate him for 20 minutes, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
In May 2016, Prince and Friend married and moved to Wrightsville Beach, NC, to be closer to family during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The former actress is now a fitness trainer at Recess by Bevin Prince, a studio she opened with her husband in 2019.