Mohammed Shaalan waited in front of his computer on Monday for his son to connect to the web cam, but 32-year-old Walid never did. He was dead.
ZAQAZIQ: Mohammed Shaalan waited in front of his computer on Monday for his son to connect to the web cam, but 32-year-old Walid never did. He was dead.
The Egyptian was a mature student at Virginia Tech and was one of the 32 people killed in the deadliest school shooting in US history.
"Dad, I'll call you tomorrow, he said on Sunday. But Walid didn't call. He was mown down in the Virginia Tech massacre as he protected a friend," Shaalan said on Friday in his son's bedroom in the town of Zaqaziq, 90 kilometres north of Cairo. Dressed in a white jelaba, Mohammed, 66, waited for Walid's coffin to come home. He remembered the last time he had seen his son.
"It was the night before. We talked on the Internet by webcam. He said 'I'll call you tomorrow and let you know how the exam went.' I waited for a long time, and then I heard the news."
Walid had been studying for eight months for his doctorate as an irrigation engineer, having already gained an honours degree in Egypt.
"He's my eldest, my pride and joy. My alter ago -- just look how alike we are, like two drops of water," said Shaalan, holding a photograph of Walid with his younger brother Ahmed and sister Dina. His eyes filled with tears.
"Yesterday I got a phone call from one of his friends. He told me this: 'Be proud of your son -- he died protecting me. I owe him my life.'
"I am proud, but I am also so sad to have lost my son in this way."
He was very bitter that guns are so easily available in the United States.
"My son held the Americans in high esteem and considered them a civilised people who did not believe in the language of arms," Shaalan said.
"But it is a grave mistake that guns are available to anyone, because every society contains sick people. In a developed and democratic country the people mustn't have guns since the police are there to protect them."
In their modest apartment, Walid's mother and wife were stricken with grief. Their eyes puffy from crying, they accepted condolences from other women dressed like them in black. The victim's 16-month-old son, Khaled, clung to his mother.
Walid's remains will arrive at Cairo airport on Saturday before being brought home to Zaqaziq for burial.
"He insisted that I continue my studies to get my master's degree," said his engineer wife, Amira, 27, before lapsing into silence once more.
"My son was a true science buff," added Walid's father. "When I looked at him I saw knowledge in his eyes. He was supposed to come back in May to enrol for another doctorate in Egypt before returning to the US to continue his thesis.
"I wanted Walid to become a learned man, well-known for scientific research in Egypt. But..."
Mohammed Shaalan was unable to say anything more.
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