© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

Service Honors Two International College Students Who Died In River Rescue

WAMC

   Honors have been bestowed on two international college students who drowned in a western Massachusetts river this summer while saving two children. 

    During a service at Western New England University, Jaser al-Rakah and Theeb al-Yami were praised as heroes who acted on their instincts to do good.

    Imam Wissam-Abdul-Baki of the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts said the two cousins from Saudi Arabia did not hesitate to jump into the Chicopee River when they saw the children struggling in the current.

   "And they told everyone: 'This is our nature. This is my nature when you know me directly'," said the imam.

   Degrees were awarded posthumously to the family members of the young men. 

   Al-Rakah was a student at Western New England University and his cousin Al-Yami was enrolled at the University of Hartford.

   The service was attended by students, professors, and Saudi diplomats from Washington and New York.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.