On 26 May 2017 a convoy of Copts was travelling to the Monastery of St. Samuel in Minya, 170 miles (270km) south of Cairo, to celebrate Ascension Day. Among them were Ayad and his sons, Marco (14) and Mina (10).
“I remember it was a very hot day, so my husband and two sons left early for work in the monastery. They were working on the church bells there,” remembers 42-year-old mother-of-four, Hanaa.
Their convoy was stopped on the desert road by eight to ten gunmen. They ordered the Copt men to give up their valuables, then all, who would not confess Islam, were shot. The boys were spared “to tell the story”.
“I was having breakfast with my daughters when the phone rang,” Hanaa continues. “It was my son calling from his father’s phone. He was crying. He told me they had been attacked and that his father was in a critical condition.”
“I went as soon as I could, together with some family. The ambulance was late, so my nephew Ehab put Ayad in the back of his minivan. My husband was soaked in blood, it was a terrible sight. On the way to hospital Ayad was transferred to the ambulance, but it was too late: he died on the way.”
Hanaa’s grief was immeasurably deep. But, she said, “along the way God comforted me through the many visits of priests and people who stood with me.”
The support was also good for her 14-year-old son,…
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