PORT MOODY -- Delaram Dadashnejad had arranged to have her close friend Ksenia Ivanova pick her up at YVR on Tuesday, after a trip to Iran. But a problem with her travel documents meant the 26-year-old Langara College student had to fly home a day later than she had planned, putting her on the Ukrainian Airlines plane that crashed near Tehran, killing everyone on board.
“In the evening, we realized when we heard the news that it must’ve been her flight,” said Ivanova from her home in Port Moody. “I can’t even comprehend it, I was so shocked. I can’t believe it’s even possible for a person so close to you. She was here all the time.”
Dadashnejad FaceTimed Ivanova’s husband the morning before her flight to ask what Ksenia might like for a gift from Iran.
”It’s just going to be very different going forward, and it’s hard to accept that so suddenly someone can pass away," said Ivanova. "I have no idea what it’s going to be like. It’s definitely not going to be the same."
Dadashnejad was earning university credits at Langara. She was planning to transfer to UBC to get her master's degree, with the goal of becoming and dietician and a permanent resident of Canada.
“Her goal was to stay here in Canada,” said Ivanova. "Her sister is here, she's studying at SFU. She had everything. She had her whole life ahead of her."
Invanova said because Dadashnejad’s parents live in Iran, her funeral will be there, but friends here are planning a memorial as well.
“She was a really good person," Ivanova said.
