The James Logan Courier

Logan Junior Fardin Qayyumi is hovering between life and death with severe brain damage at Eden Medical Center today after a high-speed crash that may have resulted from an impromptu race gone bad Monday afternoon.



Two other Logan students,including Qayyumi's brother, are recovering from injuries suffered in the crash.

Friends who have talked to Qayyumi's family said he is comatose. “He’ll never come back to school,” said freshman Belal Assef, a friend. “His brain is crushed up.”

Naveed Tariq, a sophomore, who visited Qayyumi Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley last night, said the outlook is grim for the 17-year-old, who was a rear-seat passenger in the 1996 Toyota Corolla when it went out of control while heading east on Decoto Road at the Mission Boulevard intersection.

Tariq said that the driver of the car, an unlicensed Logan freshman, was racing another car driven by a friend when the crash happened. “They were speeding in two different cars, racing,” he said. He said they were going about 70 miles per hour. “They were going really fast,” when the driver hit the brakes. “He lost control” on the rain-slick road and the car began to spin when it struck a minivan .

Qayyumi was a passenger in the back seat, which took the brunt of the impact.

Principal Don Montoya informed the staff Tuesday that Fardin Qayyumi, 17, was "on life support" after sustaining "major injuries" in the accident.

"It was the worst accident I've ever seen," said Language Arts teacher Tim Campbell, who passed by the scene on the way home from teaching.

Students in Qayyumi's eighth period class who saw the wreckage said that there appeared to be three cars involved. Campbell said that one, a red sedan, was so badly damaged that he didn't see how the driver could have lived through it. That was the car in which Qayyumi was a passenger.

The accident occurred at about 2 p.m., when most of his schoolmates were in class.

Some of Qayyumi's friends left messages of support on his myspace.com website.

"I hope you're okay. I know you're in the hospital right now, but I really want you to get better. I'm here for you and I'm praying for you. God will help you no matter what," wrote one in the nonstandard language of myspace, which has been translated here.

"I know ur in da hospital.. I'm praying for you. Don't worry, everything will be okay...," wrote another, "Allah is great! He will help you. "I promise you."

Montoya echoed that sentiment, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to him, his family, friends, and staff."