Amr Shaalan

BY MAHMOUD FATHI

“Everybody is going to die, the thing is to die well, to be remembered,” tweeted Amr Shaalan, an AUC student, two days before he passed away while attempting to save a child from drowning in Egypt’s North Coast on September 6.

Shaalan, Architectural Engineering junior, and two of his friends, went for a swim at Marhaba Compound, when they heard a couple crying for help as their drowning girl was losing life.

While there were no lifeguards in sight and conditions were treacherous, Shaalan and his friends responded by instantly rushing in to the rescue.

“Amr and his friends rushed in to the water to help her, so one of them got to her first, grabbed her and hardly returned to the shore only to see a high wave had hit him,” said Abdallah Soffar, Shaalan’s close friend and student at AUC.

One of Shaalans’ two friends brought the girl back to the shore. They then realized the strong currents had dragged him into the heavy surf, preventing his resurface.

As soon as the news broke out, a group of friends from Cairo took off to the North Coast to search for their friend.

“Unfortunately the beach was not equipped with marine rescue services at the time of the accident, so the soonest they were able to come was Sunday, when we had already found Shaalan,” said Nour Essam, childhood friend and classmate.

Essam also added that the body was discovered two days later at a neighboring compound, approximately 50-100 meters from where it originally went missing.

On Monday, three days after the accident, Shaalan’s body was buried beside Al Essawy Mosque in Mansoura where his funeral was attended by close friends and family.

“Amr died a martyr and his place now is one of the highest places in heaven. All I can say now is that I have always loved you Amr and you will always be in my heart. Please guys pray for him,” wrote Amr’s cousin, Mostafa Louai, on Facebook.

Amr’s colleague and friend Caroline El Sebai told the Caravan, “Amr is a great guy for what he did. Something I’d like people to know is that Amr always had a smile on his face and always drew smiles on people’s faces.”

On Wednesday Sept. 11, the Student Government held a memorial and prayer during assembly in Shalaan’s memory.