JEDDAH: The last thing Lamis Asiri’s father sent her before the Oct. 10 attack on King Khalid International Airport was a simple wish for a safe journey home.
Hours later, the WhatsApp conversation that had connected them fell silent.
Lamis, a final-year student at Prince Musaid bin Abdulrahman University in Abha, had traveled to Riyadh with her mother for a medical appointment. The pair were waiting in the departure area for their flight back to Abha when the attack struck.
Lamis was killed. Her mother survived and is recovering from her injuries.
Days later, her father is still struggling to come to terms with the loss.
“I am still in shock, and I have bouts of trembling. When I put my head on my pillow, I struggle and cry,” he told Al Arabiya. “But I try to remain patient because I know she has gone to a merciful Lord.”
The attack targeted a passenger terminal at the airport. The General Authority of Civil Aviation initially reported that 12 people were killed and 309 injured, including several in critical condition.
For Lamis’ father, the ordeal began when he could no longer reach his daughter.
He said he had exchanged messages with Lamis and her mother shortly before they were due to board.
“After that, we lost contact with them,” he said.
As television channels began reporting a major attack at the airport, the family scrambled for information, calling emergency services and officials in Riyadh.
When he was eventually told that his daughter had died, he refused to believe it.
“I did not believe it. I was in a state of denial, and I still thought she might be alive,” he said.
Holding on to that hope, he traveled from Abha to Riyadh. The following morning, at Al-Shumaisi Hospital, he identified his daughter's body.
She was later laid to rest at Al-Shifa Cemetery.
While mourning his daughter, he has also been caring for her injured mother, who remains under medical treatment.
According to him, doctors at the National Guard Hospital removed shrapnel and treated fractures in her feet. Despite her injuries, he described her condition as reassuring.
The family has found comfort in remembering the young woman Lamis was before her life was cut short.
Her father said she had recently completed her studies for all subjects ahead of her end-of-term examinations. Among his most cherished memories are a donation she made through the Ehsan platform days before her death and conversations in which she asked questions about religious rulings and the Qur’an.
“It was as though she was saying goodbye to us,” he said.
Messages of condolence from across the Kingdom have also helped ease the family's grief.
Her father said the office of the interior minister sent a telegram of condolence, while Asir Gov. Prince Turki bin Talal personally contacted the family. Education Minister Yousef Al-Benyan also called and promised that a graduation certificate would be issued in Lamis’ name.
For her father, the gesture carries deep meaning.
“Her certificate with God is higher,” he said. “But this certificate would be a symbolic recognition, so that her name is included among the graduates.”
As he reflected on his daughter's life, his thoughts returned not to the tragedy that took her, but to the bond they shared.
“I want you to bear witness that I was completely pleased with my daughter, and she was pleased with me,” he said. “I ask God to grant her the gardens of paradise.”