NASER POURSHABANOSHIBI AND FIROUZEH MADANI

As a teenager growing up in Tehran four decades ago, Majid Mahichi was into film, cinema, theatre and the arts. His close childhood friend, Naser Pourshabanoshibi, on the other hand, “had big visions for science.”

Pourshabanoshibi and his wife, Firouzeh Madani, became doctors in Iran, and immigrated to North Vancouver in September 2013 with their daughter, Kimia.

“He was contacting me a few times through email, to find out how Canada can be a good place for the family,” said Mahichi, who had immigrated here in 1998. “I gave him a few little advice but ... he was a smart guy. He didn’t need my advice.”

After a few years, Mahichi received another call from his old friend. “He calls me and says, ‘ Hey Majid, I’m here.’ I was so happy to see my childhood friend here in Vancouver after many, many years.”

Pourshabanoshibi and Madani had been working to transfer their medical credentials to Canada.

“No words can describe their personalities, their true spirit, the passion that they had for the work,” their niece Sara Hezarkhani said.

The couple’s 20-year-old daughter was reportedly in Tehran with them, but took an earlier flight home.

A LinkedIn profile for Madani shows that she practised medicine in Iran from 2005 through 2013. It said she was fluent in English and Persian, and spoke some Romanian.

Madani also spent time volunteering with the North Vancouver City Library, helping to connect new immigrants with services available to them at the library.

Mahmood Saii, the manager of the North Vancouver building where the family lived, said he had known Pourshabanoshibi since they moved in about five years ago.

“Ve r y nice, very family-oriented,” Saii said. “He was trying to get his documentation for his profession to work here and it was a hard time. I know he was doing some work beside it, but it was very hard, what he was trying to accomplish.”

Even at a young age, Mahichi said it was clear Pourshabanoshibi had big plans for himself and his family.

“Always thinking about a good future, you know? That’s why he moved to Canada, to have a better life.”