Willowmore High School matric top achiever Samihah Ellahi has attributed her success to the support she received from her father, Ashiq Ellahi (46), who died on the day of her final exam.
Samihah, who obtained eight distinctions, said although she’s happy to have passed matric with flying colours, she is also sad not to be able to share this joy with her father, who was a pillar of strength during her matric year.
The teen has been accepted to the University of Pretoria to study medicine.
Reminiscing about the final moments spent with her father, Samihah, who lives in Actonville, said when she came back from school on December 1 after writing her final exam (Afrikaans), her father hugged her and congratulated her on completing the exams.
“That morning, my mother had to take my siblings and me to school, which she never does – but she had to step in because my father wasn’t feeling well.
“When I came back from school, he said he was feeling a lot better. His words were ‘the worst is over’. He and my sister then went for a drive and when he came back he became worse.
“At around 19:00, the paramedics declared him dead.”
The 18-year-old couldn’t hold back her tears while relating the story to the City Times.
“I think to a certain extent, God knew that if he took him earlier I wouldn’t have managed losing him. Since that day and up to the day of the release of the matric results, everything has been a blur,” she said.
Samihah said her parents made studying easier because that’s all she had to do and nothing else.
“My father would bring us tea and food while my siblings and I studied.
“He would assist my mother with chores so we can focus on our books. If we were studying at night, he wouldn’t sleep, just to make us feel safe.”
Samihah said a few days before her father died, they went shopping for her matric dance dress.
“I didn’t even want to go to the matric dance but my family convinced me to go. My father was so involved in our lives. He attended every meeting at school and every awards ceremony.
“He broke so many stereotypes by just doing things that normal fathers wouldn’t do,” she said.
Her message for the Class of 2022 is: “Balance your life academically and socially and start studying early, before June exams or prelims start.”
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