Man dies in crash en route to mark wife’s death
A man whose wife was run over while working at a Calgary gas station two years ago died last week in a collision on a B.C. highway.
Ahmad Shallo was killed almost two years to the day Maryam Rashidi died, while he was travelling back to Calgary to mark the anniversary of her death, friends said.
“I’m still trying to convince myself it’s a dream,” said Gina Masnadi, a close family friend.
“They were both gone on the same day. I thought, my God, it couldn’t be real, it couldn’t be.
“But at least they’re both together now.”
Shallo, who moved to B.C. following Rashidi’s death, was driving with his seven-year-old son, Koorosh, and his new wife when the collision occurred.
Masnadi said the woman suffered serious injuries and had to undergo surgery, but the boy, who was sitting in the back seat, escaped harm. She said Koorosh is now back in Vancouver with family and friends while the extended family discusses what to do next.
“Koorosh was so attached to his dad after Maryam passed. It’s going to be hard, very hard for him,” Masnadi said.
“We just hope that he will be strong through these hard days.”
Rashidi was run over by Joshua Mitchell on June 7, 2015, after he and a passenger stole gas and tried to drive away from the 16th Avenue N.W. Centex gas station where she worked.
She died in hospital two days later.
Mitchell was convicted in May of manslaughter in the death.
Masnadi said she has been working since then to obtain a visa for Rashidi’s mother, who lives in Iran, to come to Calgary to attend the sentencing in August. She said the Persian community in Calgary is prepared to rally around Koorosh and the extended families to provide any assistance necessary.
“It’s not easy when you immigrate here and you don’t have anybody,” Masnadi said.
“You come with a big hope for your life, for yourself and your kid, and to end up being like this is a tragedy.”