SCARBOROUGH: IRANIAN PLANE CRASH CLAIMS MOTHER AND SON
Inside Toronto
July 16 2009
Before three-year-old Edward Khachik left for his summer vacation,
he asked family friend Leonard Rideout to take a picture of him so
that he would be remembered.
The toddler and his 35-year-old mother Nana Antashyam died on that
vacation Wednesday when their plane crashed in Iran.
"He would call me uncle," Rideout said of Edward.
"He was like a little Einstein, very smart. He could read a book."
Antashyam, husband Vahik Khachik and their son Edward lived in the
McCowan Road and Lawrence Avenue area of Scarborough.
Antashyam and Edward flew to Armenia on June 30 to visit her
family. Two weeks later, Khachik, Antashyam and Edward met up in Iran
for Khachik’s niece’s wedding and Edward’s baptism.
"She (Antashyam) was heading back to Armenia with Edward for her
sister’s birthday when the plane went down," Rideout said. "It’s hard
to swallow. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I still can’t believe it."
The Russian-made Tu-154M jet crashed shortly after takeoff. All 168
people onboard were killed.
Family friend Maria Machado said Antashyam, a piano teacher, recently
became a Canadian citizen.
"She was kind-hearted. She would give you the shirt off her back,"
Machado said. "She was like a mother to me. I would share my problems
with her. It’s just so hard to believe they’re gone."
Machado said Edward was looking forward to starting junior kindergarten
in September. "He was so happy to be going to school. He told me that
he was going to make new friends and learn a lot."
Neighbour Samantha Alphonso said Edward would play ball and tag with
her three-year-old son Travis.
"He (Edward) was a very good little boy. I’m going to miss him
dearly. Travis is also going to miss his little buddy."
Rideout said he spoke to Edward on the phone Monday.
"He was telling me about a Batman costume that he just got," said
Rideout. "I told him I bought some toys for him. He got excited. He
told me that he loved me. He was like a son to me."
Khachik learned of the crash on Iranian TV after dropping off his
wife and son at the airport.
"I screamed so loud. I knew they were finished," he said. "We came here
for a celebration but it became a sad story. My family is shattered
now. I lost the best part of my life: my wife and my little boy."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
