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Zach Braff honors best friend Nick Cordero: 'I have honestly never known a kinder person'

Braff and Cordero worked on Broadway together, starring in "Bullets Over Broadway" in 2014.
/ Source: TODAY

Zach Braff is honoring his late best friend Nick Cordero, who died from coronavirus complications on Sunday morning. He was 41.

"Nick Cordero passed at 11:40am today with his wife and mother by his side," the 45-year old "Scrubs" star wrote on Instagram. "I have honestly never known a kinder person. But Covid doesn’t care about the purity of your soul, or the goodness in your heart."

Braff and Cordero worked on Broadway together, starring in "Bullets Over Broadway" in 2014.

"The last thing he ever texted me was to look out for his wife and one year old son, Elvis," Braff wrote in his post on Sunday. "I promise the world they will never want for anything. I feel so incredibly grateful I got to have Nick Cordero enter my life. Rest In Peace. Rest in Power."

Braff shared a black-and-white photo of Cordero with his wife, Amanda Kloots. Kloots responded to the touching tribute, commenting, "We love you ZB. Thank you, friend."

"Burn This" Opening Night
Nick Cordero and Zach Braff in 2019.Walter McBride / FilmMagic

In April, Braff told The Hollywood Reporter that he was helping Kloots and Elvis, who were living in his guest house while they searched for a home in Los Angeles.

"He's 41 and he's unconscious at Cedars — he's on a ventilator, he's lost his leg due to complications, and every day we don’t know what will happen," he said. "So, his wife and baby are living in my guest house and thank God they've been joined by her amazing brother and sister who are taking care of her and helping her with the baby. And we help them in any way we can, too."

Braff added, "My point is that most people are lucky enough to not have (coronavirus) land in their backyard and also I think a lot of people are still under the impression that this is only really dire for seniors, but I'm here to tell you that a very, very healthy 41-year-old friend of mine is fighting for his life."

On Twitter, Braff wrote, "Nick Cordero fought as hard as he could for 90 days. Wear a mask."

Florence Pugh, who has been dating Braff since early last year, also took to social media to honor her late friend, sharing a performance of Cordero's from April 2019.

In her post, Pugh noted that Cordero did not suffer from any preexisting conditions before he tested positive for the coronavirus.

"It is so shocking and devastating to see one of your own come down as hard as he did," she wrote. "Over the last few months I’ve wanted to ask myself every day- what can I do to help? But, instead I’ll ask all of you. What can WE do to help?"

"Help the world by continuing to take this virus seriously. Wear your mask, respect others’ space, clean your hands and please be safe. This is far from over."