After being hit by a car in Saudi Arabia, a former player of a high school soccer team that won its first state title with the support of members of the immigrant community died of injuries.
Zakariya Abdullahi, a 2015 Lewiston High School defender, was in a coma when he died Thursday in a Saudi hospital, according to the Sun Journal.
Abdullahi, a 2016 Lewiston graduate, was on his way to Mecca with his mother and older brother when the brothers were hit by a car while walking down a sidewalk, according to acquaintances. They had previously resided in Minnesota.
Amy Bass, the author of “One Goal,” a book on the 2015 team that included players from Somalia, Kenya, and Congo, recalled Abdullahi’s last text from her on Jan. 5.
“The whole trip was incredibly emotional for him. It was filled with family and spirituality, and regaining a sense of place that was so important to him,” she told the newspaper.
A GoFundMe campaign to bring Abdullahi home for medical treatment has garnered more than $126,000.
Mike McGraw, Abdullahi’s former coach, said the GoFundMe response “showed how big of an influence a young man has had on a community.”