AL AIN // The family of a teenager who died of a heart attack during his national service training spoke on Monday of their sadness, but also their pride that their son had become a martyr for his country.
“Right now I feel pride and sorrow at the same time,” said Khalifa Abdullah Salim Al Risi, whose grandson Mohammed Khalid Al Risi, 18, died after suffering a cardiac arrest while lining up to return to his barracks after dinner on Saturday night.
“Even though I am a grandfather of 35 children, I have to tell you that there are few like Mohammed,” said Khalifa. “From his morals to his manners, to his understanding, to his strong religious faith, he was unique.”
The family gathered at a tent set up to receive mourners at their home in Al Yahar in Al Ain.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Mohammed, the Ruler’s representative in the Eastern Region, and Maj Gen Pilot Sheikh Ahmed bin Tahnoon, chief of National Service and Reserve Staff Authority, were among those who visited to offer their condolences.
Mohammed’s father, Khalid Khalifa Al Risi, said his son had been in good health and keen to take part in national service so he could follow in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps and start a career in the military.
“His health was perfect. He had been through army training courses before and had no problems.”
Khalid said his son showed a strong desire to serve his nation by being one of the first to sign up for national service, even putting military life ahead of continuing his education.
“He was excited to be a part of the military, just like the rest of us,” said Khalid, who was being consoled by dozens of members of his family.
Khalifa said barely two days would go by without Mohammed coming to visit him and his grandmother.
“I would ask him, ‘What are you doing here? What do you need?’ He would say, ‘I’m just here to say hello’. Even some of my own children, I don’t see them for weeks.”
Ahmed Saeed, one of Mohammed’s uncles, said his nephew was loved by everyone, but what happened to the young recruit was not the first time a member of the family had suffered a heart attack.
“This is the third time it has happened to members of our family,” said Mr Saeed.
Two of Mohammed’s uncles died from heart attacks at around the same age, one as recently as this summer, said Mr Saeed.
“My brother died right before Ramadan. We came into his room and he was laying over his PlayStation. We thought he was sleeping but he never came back.”
Another of Mohammed’s uncles also died while serving in the Army.
“He had been serving in the military for six months and was three days away from completing his training when he fell right in the middle of the square, just like Mohammed,” Mr Saeed said.
The teenager was among the first batch of high-school recruits who began their training on August 31 and had only four days left until he finished his initial three-week boot camp, after which he could return home and commute to the military base for the rest of his training.
Mr Saeed said a day before he died all of Mohammed’s family had gathered at his aunt’s house.
“He would have been there with us but because he was in service he couldn’t come. He was so close.”
Mohammed leaves behind four sisters and two brothers.
His father said the family home was no longer the same without him.
“It’s hard at home because he was the one who moved the house. He always joked around with his younger brothers and sisters, took them to the store, and now its quiet, so quiet at the house. I treated him like a friend rather than a son, which tells you how close we were.”
tsubaihi@thenational.ae
