Abbas Elradi, an electrical engineering student at Carleton, was killed in a head-on highway collision crash near Canmore, Alberta on Sept. 4.
Elradi was the passenger in the car, and his friend, Zohaiq Baloch, was the driver, said Saba Bayegnah, a friend of Elradi’s.
The two were on a road trip to Vancouver, she said.
Elradi was pronounced dead on-scene, while Baloch passed away a week later after having been in critical condition since the accident, Bayegnah said.
Friends and family held a memorial service for Elradi on Sept. 6. at the Ottawa Main Mosque.
His funeral was held at a mosque in Calgary, his hometown, at the same time.
Elradi was born on June 30, 1991, in Sudan, but later moved to Calgary with his family.
According to Bayegnah, he then moved to Ottawa, Ont. to study electrical engineering at Carleton in 2012.
Despite his focus on engineering, Elradi was an entrepreneur at heart, and was beginning the process of switching majors prior to the fall semester of 2016, said both Bayegnah and his friend Angie Alshal.
During the summer of 2015, Elradi founded Ottawa Ravers, a group which connects rave-goers with music-related events across the globe.
“Abbas was the kind of person that wanted people to be happy,” a post on the Ottawa Ravers Facebook page said. “His motto was good vibes only to everyone.”
“We will mourn you . . . but we will also cherish what memories you have provided us,” the post said.
Elradi also founded an off-campus association called Events Made Unique (EMU).
EMU focused on organizing marketing events for local businesses and social events for students.
Aside from Ottawa Ravers and EMU, Elradi was the marketing and media director for Salam, a club at Carleton representing Arabic culture, from April 2014 to April 2015.
Both Alshal and Bayegnah said that Elradi poured his heart and soul into the organization.
According to Bayegnah, Elradi worked hard to help paint a mural for Salam in the tunnels, together with the help of a design team.
Elradi also sponsored an orphaned child through the Children of Syria Foundation, a campaign of the United Nations’ refugee agency, they said.
Bayegnah said Elradi’s outlook on life was that “every little thing would be alright,” and he was inspired by the music of Bob Marley, someone whom Elradi admired.
Donations towards funeral costs for Elradi are currently being collected.
