By John Dobberstein, Editor
Just weeks after Leila Faraji and her daughter, both of Broken Arrow, were swept away by flood waters and perished, their grief-stricken family faces a tough road to healing.
On Easter Sunday, after thunderstorms created dangerous flooding conditions, Masoud Allahkarami and his family were heading out to see friends but took a wrong turn east of Leonard, authorities said. Allahkarami tried to drive their Cadillac Escalade over a low-water bridge but it was carried away into a creek and it started taking on water.
Allahkarami and daughter Hannah, 10, were able to exit the vehicle and get to safety, but Leila and their 7-year-old daughter Rosa remained inside and were carried down the creek toward the Arkansas River.
Their bodies were found in the river Monday by Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers amid a massive search-and-rescue response along Highway 64 east of Leonard.
Masou and Hannah must now rebuild their lives during their grieving, and family members have put together a GoFundMe campaign as they ask for financial help for medium and long-term support.
They incurred funeral and memorial expenses for the service on Tuesday, and must still provide for counseling and emotional support for Hannah, among other food and housing needs.
Leila and Masoud “formed a beautiful, loving family who were cherished by everyone who knew them,” said Leila’s cousin, Hamide Seidfaraji. “Leila and Masoud were among the kindest, most generous, and compassionate people you could ever meet. They were the heart of their community, always bringing people together and opening their home to anyone in need.
“They never turned away a request for help and gave selflessly, always with warm smiles and open arms. To many, they were not just friends—they were family.”
They added that Leila was a “kind and warm soul, a deeply loving mother who always put her family first.”
Leila Faraji had worked as a research and development engineer at Minneapolis-based Medtronic since 2014, previously serving as a research assistant at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa’s Mechanics of Advanced Materials Laboratory and earning a PhD in mechanical engineering there.
Allahkarami has served since 2017 as CEO of A-Lab in Broken Arrow, a professional design and engineering firm, and is also a post doctorate research fellow for OSU in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
The mother and daughter were part of 4 fatalities that occurred last weekend due to flash flooding, as a mother and her 12-year-old boy died after their truck was carried away in Moore.
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