Honouring the heroes - BARIZ & SABA'S TOUCHING PROJECT

The caring couple never imagined triumph would come from such tragedy

- Kasia De Vydt-Jillings

Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi will never forget the Christchurch terror attack of March 15, 2019 when 51 people from their close-knit Muslim community were slain as a lone terrorist gunman opened fire at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre.

At the time, both Bariz and Saba were praying at the nearby University of Canterbury Musallah.

“It was a normal Friday prayer,” tells Bariz, 29, who was studying civil engineering. “I was standing in the second row and as we finished, I saw the guy behind and his face was void of colour.

He was looking at his phone murmuring about a shooting. I thought, ‘It must be someone playing a prank - this can’t be real.”

As news updates started reporting the death toll and Bariz was forced to confront the awful reality, his first thoughts instantly turned to his wife Saba.

“He told me to stay inside the university library for my safety because I visibly looked Muslim,” recalls Saba, 28, who wears a hijab head covering.

Both had always dreamed of making a difference in the world through humanitarian work and were volunteers for World Vision and the Red Cross.

But as Bariz assisted in burying the victims, including two young boys, Hamza and Sayyad, whom he had been mentoring, he knew there was no time to waste.