A dad who went into a coma after he and his two sons were hit by a motorbike in Plumstead didn't remember his eight-year-old son who died in the same crash.
Mohamed Moa was holding hands with his sons, Mustafa Ahmed and Ahmed Ahmed when all three were hit by a motorbike outside the Greenwich Islamic Centre on February 19.
Eight-year-old, Mustafa died at the scene, while Mohamed suffered a head injury and shattered hip.
He was airlifted to hospital with his other son, Ahmed, 11, who sustained a punctured liver and neck lacerations.
Mohamed was in an induced coma for several weeks and underwent multiple operations as well as intensive therapy to regain his speech and memory.
Mohamed says he did not even remember who Mustafa was when he first woke from his coma, as reported by the Mirror.
He said: “I can’t remember anything, I don’t know what happened that night.
“When I woke up, I didn’t remember anything, I didn’t know my wife, I didn’t know anybody.
“I didn’t know the reason I was there.”
Mohamed's last memory of Mustafa was a few days before the incident where he went for a walk with his son.
Mohamed said: “I went for a walk, just me and him, along the River Thames near our house.
“We used to go along there a lot. That’s all I can remember.”
Mohamed recalled the moment when he was finally told of his son’s passing.
He said: “It came up after I had speech and language therapy every day for a few weeks.
“Then I remembered who I am. I lost so many things. I knew nothing at all.”
“Even on being told about Mustafa - who he could by then remember.
“I was still confused a bit, they told me about my son about two months later.
“When they saw I was speaking better, they called me into a room, with my wife and the doctors and told me what happened.”
“It was very bad, I wasn’t thinking properly, but I was feeling very bad. I felt guilty; that it happened because I took him from home that day.
“I used to think it was because of me. I used to think that way.”
Mohamed said his Muslim faith has helped him during the grieving process and he accepts he cannot change what happened.
“It was our destiny,” he added.
The mum of the family, Heyfa Akubar, ran a mile-and-half from her home at Woolwich Dockyard to the scene of the crash.
The 43-year-old then collapsed when she found Mustafa dead in the street.
Family friend Swaleh Bocus, who joined Mohamed at the scene to speak to the Mirror, was praying inside the centre when the incident took place.
Swaleh said he saw Heyfa rushing through the police cordon and collapsing to the ground in tears.
He explained: “I saw a lady crossing the police cordon so I shouted ‘you are not allowed to go there’, not knowing that was the mum.
“She had seen her son’s things, she knew he had died.
“She just fell down and collapsed and the officers and paramedics surrounded her to comfort her.
“She didn’t stand up for nearly half an hour, she was just crying.
“They said ‘leave her! Don’t run to her! She’s the mum!’ She could see the boy.”
Mohamed still prays at the same Islamic centre but has to be taken by car, while Heyfa prays at a different mosque.
They are hoping to move out of their family home as it holds “too many memories” with Mustafa.
Mohamed said: “The children and my wife don’t want to stay in the house.
“There are too many memories.
“Ahmed - who shared a bedroom with Mustafa - now sleeps with one of his sisters.
“He won’t go in his old room, none of the children will.”
Mohamed added: "Only me and my wife go in there sometimes but it’s not easy, there’s so much memory in there.”
Asked how Ahmed’s recovery has gone, Mohamed said he’s recovered but “not perfectly”.
He explained: “He likes to be alone, he’s quiet all the time.
“He wants to be sitting alone and keep quiet. Before he was more open. He was very outgoing; now he’s withdrawn, even at school.”
Mohamed said he and Heyfa will sometimes ask Ahmed about his brother and what happened, but he refuses to answer.
He added: “They were very close, the only boys in the house,"
"He doesn’t want to talk about it. We even try to talk to him, me and his mum, we ask him things or talk about his brother but he won’t.”
The motorcyclist, Nicholas Hopkins, 20, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving at Inner London Crown Court on November 23.
Swaleh and Mohamed are now supporting a campaign to urge Greenwich Council to make road changes to the spot where Mustafa died.
This includes reducing the speed to 20mph and installing a speed camera in Plumstead Road.
A council spokesperson said: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Mustafa Ahmed and by the serious injuries caused to his other family members.
“Immediately after the incident we met with representatives of the Greenwich Islamic Centre, and we have continued to do so.
“We have been working with the Met Police as part of its investigation to help secure a conviction. An individual has been charged with several offences including causing death by dangerous driving.
“The Police have not suggested that there were any issues with the highway that could have prevented this tragic loss of life.
“While there are no measures that will ever fully protect the public from anyone who chooses to drive recklessly and illegally as a borough, we are committed to Vision Zero: for all deaths and serious injuries from road collisions to be eliminated from our streets.
“Alongside Transport for London (TfL) we have identified steps we could take to make the road safer - such as refreshing road markings and as part of our upcoming review alongside all other roads in the borough, will consider introducing a 20 mile per hour speed limit.”
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