Man who died trying to help stranded motorist identified as Khalid Farooq, father of 5

Khalid Farooq of Calgary, a father of 5 children, died Wednesday trying to help a motorist stranded on Crowchild Trail.

The man who lost his life trying to help a stranded motorist Wednesday has been identified as Khalid Farooq.

Wednesday night, Farooq, who was driving a Toyota Prius, pulled over on northbound Crowchild Trail near Fifth Avenue at 8 p.m. to help someone whose vehicle had broken down in the right lane.

As Farooq exited his vehicle, it began to roll backwards.

"The man attempted to stop the Toyota from rolling and became pinned underneath the vehicle," police said in a news release.

Though a number of bystanders rushed to help, Farooq was pronounced dead at the scene.

Calgary police say a man helping a fellow motoristist died after becoming pinned under a vehicle on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024.

A young boy, Farooq’s 10-year-old son, was with him at the time but was uninjured.

Early Friday evening, Farooq’s best friend, Tooryali Eklil, spoke with CTV News about the tragic loss of Farooq, who also has four daughters, who are 14, 8, 6 and 1.

Ekllil described Farooq as someone who would help anyone who needed a hand.

“Since he passed away, more than 200 people have called me,” Eklil said. “Everyone has a story about how he helped them.

“(One said,) 'He fixed my garage'. (Another said) 'He fixed my washroom'. One guy called me and said, I' came to Calgary seven years ago and I called Khalid and said, “I can’t find a job', so he took me to one of his friends and his friend gave me a job.'

“He worked a lot of years in construction,” he said. “He’s a very handy man. He can fix cars. He knows everything.

“This is a very big loss,” Eklil said. “He died trying to help someone.”

A GoFundMe campaign that has been set up to help Farooq’s family has already raised over $169,000 as of Sunday afternoon.

With files from CTV's Melissa Gilligan