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For his family, six-year-old Zafeer Munir was their lifeline and now that he’s gone, his mother, father and sister don’t know how they are going to carry on.
Less than one year after moving to St. John’s from Bangladesh, parents Rezwana Munir Islam and Riyad Ul Munir are set to attend the funeral of their only son.
“At the end of the day, the kids are the most important thing that you hold close,” his father, Riyad, told CBC News while choking up. “Spend as much time as you can with your kids, or you will regret it after their passing.”
Last Thursday evening, Zafeer was struck by alleged impaired driver Tyler Day in St. John’s, sending him to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police allege Day fled the scene of the crime but was later arrested.
Zafeer died just a few days later.
“I love my son… He is always with me inside my heart, he will be there always,” said Rezwana. She says Zafeer clung to her since he was a baby.
Rezwana was walking with her son to the St. John’s Farmer’s Market when he was hit. Reliving the incident is too hard for her and she was not ready to share the details of how things unfolded.
On Thursday — the same day the family is holding Zafeer’s funeral — Day’s charges were upgraded. He now faces charges including impaired driving causing death, failure to remain at the scene of an accident causing death, operating a vehicle over the legal limit and criminal negligence.
Rezwana and Riyadh didn’t just lose a child. His sister, Zunairah Tanzila Munir, also lost her brother.
Zunariah said she is going to miss taking him to the park to watch, and sometimes play soccer with him, as well as listening to him make up his own words to familiar songs.
Even though she lost Zafeer, she wants other siblings to still be able to share the same type of fun she and her brother once shared.
“The other siblings who are watching us, I want them to stay together playfully and happily,” said Zunariah.
Zunariah also hopes people will share the same joy for life Zafeer had. His entire family said he could soak up happiness from every moment.
Carrying on without their son, Rezwana and Riyad said, is going to be “difficult.” Some things, his mother added, will be “impossible.”
“He was a true cake lover. He enjoyed cake so much… I don’t know, in future, if we can even be able to bake cakes,” said Rezwana.
What they’ll each miss most about Zafeer is his intuitiveness, talent, love for music and cars, and taking him whale watching at Cape Spear.
Zafeer will be laid to rest at the Muslim Cemetery in Torbay on Thursday.
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