‘She died from sadness’
Suad Adwan flew from Jordan to bring her dead son’s widow and children to his funeral. Yesterday morning, writes Blair Ensor, she died of a broken heart.
The mother of a man killed in the Christchurch terror attack has died within hours of his burial, and her family hold the gunman responsible for her death.
Suad Adwan, 65, from Jordan, was found dead at a house in the city’s north-east yesterday morning. Her son Kamel Darwish, 38, was killed at the Masjid Al Noor on Deans Ave in the March 15 terror attack.
Adwan, who had a heart condition, arrived in New Zealand on Thursday with Darwish’s widow Rana and their three young children, ahead of his funeral at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Linwood on Friday.
She was too stressed and upset to attend her son’s burial and went to bed with a sore stomach. Her family found her dead when they checked on her yesterday morning. It’s believed she suffered a medical event.
‘‘She just didn’t wake up. We feel like the main reason for her death is sadness,’’ Adwan’s 33year-old nephew, Hany Al-Daher, told the Sunday Star-Times.
He believed the gunman was responsible for his aunt’s death. Adwan, who lived in Jordan’s capital city, Amman, had recently lost her husband and was devastated at her son’s death.
‘‘It’s extremely sad. She was a very lovely, easygoing person.’’
Darwish immigrated to New Zealand from Jordan about six months ago and worked on a dairy farm in Ashburton.
His widow and their children, aged two, six and eight, had applied for a visa to immigrate to New Zealand. They don’t know whether they want to make the move any more.
Darwish was among several Jordanians who died in the attack, which targeted two mosques and claimed the lives of 50 people.
Jordan’s Prince El Hassan Bin Talal laid flowers at the Masjid Al Noor yesterday after it was handed back to the Muslim community.