"Everything was ready, I lost my heart and soul": Ryan killed 3 days before the start of school
Ryan Kamal Asaad from Kisra was excited to enter 12th grade and had already prepared everything required, but three days before the start of school he was killed in a fatal car accident that claimed the life of another person. "His dreams were shattered. He will no longer go to the army, will not enter 12th grade," said his father in pain, who called out to the public with a plea: "Drive carefully."
About 2.6 million students across the country will return tomorrow (Tuesday) to educational institutions. Like all the excited students who have already prepared everything required for the start of the school year, 16.5-year-old Ryan Kamal Asaad from the village of Kisra in the Galilee was fully prepared. However, a few days before the start of the school year, Ryan was killed in a car accident near Ma'alot. Also killed in the accident was fire and rescue officer Srour Amar, 53, from Hurfeish, who was in the other vehicle.
"On Saturday he went with a friend to eat in Yarka," his father, Sheikh Kamal Asaad, recounted in pain. "I was visiting my daughter and her family in Daliyat al-Karmel, and they called me from the family and said that Ryan had an accident with his friend and there are people in serious condition." Later in the conversation, he described the drive and the uncertainty: "They didn't tell me there was a fatality, so all the way to the hospital in Nahariya I prayed that I would arrive safely, that I wouldn't have an accident, and that I would see him. It was the longest drive of my life, so all the way thoughts accompanied me - is he dead or not dead?".
The accident happened around 17:00 near Moshav Lapidot. The death of Ryan Kamal Asaad, who was sitting in the passenger seat, and Srour Amar was determined at the scene. Another person was seriously injured. MADA paramedic Eddy Zugut and MADA medics Lior Fadida and Ibrahim Khalaila reported that it was a very serious accident between two vehicles that were crushed with severe body damage.
When the father arrived at the hospital, he quickly understood the serious results of the accident: "I arrived at the hospital in Nahariya and saw a lot of people. I had a feeling that he was no longer alive." While holding his son's picture, the father added: "At that moment they told me a disaster had happened. Ryan, of blessed memory, was involved in a car accident. Here our lives changed, all his dreams were shattered. He will no longer go to the army, will not enter 12th grade, will not finish his studies. Just a few days ago he bought a school shirt - everything was already ready. I have never experienced such a disaster in my life, it breaks families, it is hard for all of us."
Ryan's father said that he was a good and friendly student. "Everyone loved him, he loved to joke and was a very responsible child. He dreamed of enlisting in the army and doing meaningful service, he was just waiting for tests at the recruitment office, and was looking forward to giving the country his due," the father said in pain. "I lost my heart and soul. He came after five daughters and a son, he was the prince of the house, the most spoiled - whatever he wanted I gave him."
In the shadow of the fresh and difficult loss, the father asked to appeal to the public and drivers: "From me and from the whole family, I call on all the people of Israel, every young man and woman to drive carefully. You go and don't know what you left behind. Think about the parents, about the brothers and sisters who are waiting for you at home. We lost one of the good children from the village, a young person's life was ruined. All night I slept on his bed and called him 'Ryan, where did you go? Only 16.5, haram (what a pity)," the father cried out.
The weekend in which the teenager was killed was particularly deadly on the roads, and claimed the lives of four people within hours. Apart from Asaad and Amar who were killed in the accident near Ma'alot-Tarshiha, during Saturday a 93-year-old man was killed on Highway 4 near the Ra'anana junction, and a 40-year-old female ATV rider in a hit-and-run accident near the settlement of Tzochar in the Eshkol Regional Council.
According to the National Road Safety Authority, almost 300 people have been killed in car accidents this year. Although the number of fatalities is still about 5% lower compared to the same period last year, professionals warn that the improvement trend recorded at the beginning of the year is eroding. At the current rate, they say, 2026 could end with a number of fatalities similar to that recorded in 2025 - when 459 people were killed on the roads, the highest figure in more than two decades.
The breakdown of fatalities by age shows that those aged 20 to 34 are the age group most affected. The distribution by type of road also points to a familiar trend: most of the fatalities were killed on intercity roads, where travel speeds are higher and the severity of accidents is greater. Passengers and drivers of private vehicles continue to constitute the largest group among the fatalities. To fight the carnage on the roads, the police announced at the beginning of the month that on roads with a high level of risk - the enforcement threshold for speed cameras will be tightened. In some of the cameras, stricter enforcement will be carried out, which will include documenting an offense within a short deviation range from the permitted speed.
