Family, friends remember Good Samaritan teen after deadly North Texas crash

Long before Ahmed Habib Fadi Dwabe stopped along a North Texas interstate to help strangers, the character at the center of his story was already known.

He was 9 years old.

And it was written in his hair.

Nearly a decade before his death, Habib grew his curly hair past his shoulders because he wanted to donate it to a child with cancer. His decision put the Joshua boy and his family in a fight with his school district over its grooming policy. CBS News reported on that fight in 2017.

His mother, Faye Abunijmeh, said then that her son was proud of those curls because he wanted a child battling cancer to have them.

Habib kept growing.

And Friday morning, at 18, authorities say that same spirit of giving led him to the southbound Interstate 35W at Seminary Drive, where he helped someone he apparently did not know.

This time, it cost him his life.

Good Samaritan killed on I-35W

Fort Worth police said a collision happened near Felix Street, south of downtown, around 2:30 a.m. Friday.

Habib stopped, got out, and tried to help.

He was struck and killed.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner identified him as 18-year-old Ahmed Habib Fadi Dwabe.

One person involved in the initial crash was taken to a hospital, investigators said.

The crash shut down both directions of I-35W for hours.

But traffic eventually moved again.

For Habib's family and friends, life will not move on nearly as easily.

"Just a kind spirit"

Family friend Sonya Espinoza described Habib as lively, funny, and surrounded by friends. She said he had recently returned from a 10-day trip to Lebanon with his aunt, a trip he enjoyed so much that he did not want to come home.

Espinoza said Habib didn't know the people he stopped to help.

That detail connects the 18-year-old who stepped onto a dark interstate with the 9-year-old willing to spend years growing his hair for another child.

Different moments.

Same instinct.

Help somebody.

One last ride, one last laugh

Daniel Rodriguez was among Habib's friends before the crash.

Their final moments together weren't filled with fear.

They were filled with laughter.

The friends had apparently turned their ride into something of a laughing contest.

Habib won.

"Habib was a really funny guy," Daniel said. "I really love him. I really miss him. And I just wish it could have been different."

Rodriguez said the laughter lasted until they got out of the vehicle.

"We all laughed pretty hard," he said. "Getting off the truck, we were laughing."

Those ordinary seconds have become extraordinary memories.

The high school senior described his friend as "the most amazing guy I knew."

"He's in a better place," Daniel said. "And I know he's in a better place."

For Rodriguez, Habib's loss is difficult to process. What remains are moving keepsakes: the conversation about going to Whataburger and the final laugh with his friend.

Around 50 friends gathered at Joshua City Park for a balloon release Friday night, sharing memories and special sentiments about their friend.

His mother invited them to her son's services. She had just seen his body and was headed to the local high school, where his death was also being honored.