When Deah Barakat, his new wife and her sister were shot dead in Chapel Hill earlier this year, he was well on the way to raising $20,000 (£12,700) for a trip to provide free dental care to Syrian refugees.
Now, after their deaths sparked international outrage and almost $1.5 million (£950,000) in donations, the young Muslim’s family and friends have carried out his dream.
Namee Barakat, Deah’s father, said he and about 50 volunteers returned this month from more than a week of dental clinics and workshops in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli.
More than 9,000 people donated for the trip online, as part of an outpouring of emotion following the shooting of Deah, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, in North Carolina on 10 February 2015.
To this day, Deah’s video and written appeal adorn a YouCaring page he set up to fund the trip. It was closed by the family after raising half a million dollars, and a new trust fund set up in honour of the Chapel Hill victims has raised almost one million. Project: Refugee Smiles
Pictures from the trip to Turkey were posted to the official Facebook page of Project Refugee Smiles, and Namee Barakat said more than 800 patients – mostly children – received free treatments.
Speaking to the local network WNCN, Mr Barakat said that after all the pain his family had gone through, seeing the refugees’ suffering relieved was “rewarding in so many ways”.
“It’s just indescribable,” he said. “When you look at them smiling or give you that big hug, it just meant the world to me.”
Namee Barakat with his son, Deah (Facebook)
Deah Barakat was a dental student at UNC who worked for a charity giving dental care to Palestinian children and refugees
Deah Barakat and his wife Yusor at an American football match
Namee Barakat with his wife Layla (R) and daughter Suzanne, family of shooting victim Deah Shaddy Barakat (Reuters)
People gather at UNC-Chapel Hill's "Pit" to mourn for Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife Yusor Mohammed and her sister Razan Mohammed Abu-Salha in Chapel Hill, N.C., Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015.
Mr Barakat said that the group arrived back from Turkey late at night, and the very next morning he went to visit his son’s grave.
He said: “It was a good feeling. I felt really good about it, that at least we’ve done what he wanted to do. Probably not as good, but we tried.”
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The man accused of killing Deah, Yusor and Razan, 46-year-old Craig Stephen Hicks, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. He could face the death penalty.
