Losing his family in crash is unbearable: Orphan survivor

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Losing his family in crash is unbearable: Orphan survivor


Aashar Arshad, 11, whose family members were killed in a tragic vehicle collision in B.C. Edmonton, Aug. 3, 2010.
Photograph by: Ed Kaiser, edmontonjournal.com


Read more: Losing his family in crash is unbearable: Orphan survivor



By Mariam Ibrahim and Brent Wittmeier, Edmonton Journal August 4, 2010


EDMONTON — Aashar Arshad talked fondly of the weekly road trips his family would take during the summer to nearby lakes and parks.


"My dad would never let us stay home," 11-year-old Aashar said Tuesday, his smile revealing a dimple in each cheek as he sat in a family friend's living room. "He was like an outdoor man. He'd always make us go somewhere."


He recounted how the family would often take long road trips. The family did more travelling this summer compared to past years because Aashar's grandfather was in Edmonton for a visit.


It was during a road trip Sunday that Aashar's family was killed in a crash outside Golden, B.C.


He was left an orphan.


He was riding with friends in a two-vehicle convoy heading to Abbotsford, B.C., when his family's minivan crossed the centre line and hit a motorhome. The collision killed his parents, Arshad and Shakila Mahmood; his sisters, Daraksha, 15, and Mahlaka, 13; his grandfather Muhammad Shraif, 81; and family friend Syeda Alizay Asad, 14.


Aashar had originally been riding with his family, but had switched vehicles with Syeda shortly before the accident so she could chat with his two sisters.


Aashar is staying with longtime family friends until it can be determined whether he will stay in Canada or return to Pakistan, from where his family moved four years ago.


"I might stay here or I might go back to Pakistan," Aashar said. "I don't really care where I go because I have friends here and I have good friends there, too. I'm happy with my family's decision."


Aashar said he enjoys living in Canada, adding that his father had spent five years arranging to move here. He said he doesn't know if his parents would have wanted him to stay or return to Pakistan, but his father wanted him to eventually pursue engineering at a Canadian school — a career choice to which young Aashar has already given some thought.


"It's a fun job. I've tried it," he said, straightening up in his seat. "I fix machines that my dad couldn't fix. I would open the whole thing and it would work."


Aashar said he will miss his parents and sisters, whom he said were always polite and nice to him and anyone else they encountered.


"They were very loving."


When Sunday's crash happened, Aashar said he understood how severe it was, but hoped that everything would be OK.


"I completely understood it," he said. "I was like, 'The ambulance is here; they're going to work things out.'


"It was sad. It was unbearable — unexplainable."


Shahid Bashir, in whose home Aashar is staying, has known the youngster's family more than 20 years.


He and Arshad Mahmood were from the same city in Pakistan. Bashir helped Mahmood and his family immigrate to Canada. The two families would often go on summer trips together, Bashir said.


He added he has spoken with the young boy's uncle in Pakistan. If it's decided Aashar will remain in Canada, Bashir said his hope is that the boy will stay with him — a decision that Aashar said he would be comfortable with.


"They're like my second family," Aashar said.



Read more: Losing his family in crash is unbearable: Orphan survivor