DUBAI // Hundreds of mourners gathered on Tuesday to celebrate the life of a man who inspired others with his great strength and integrity.
A funeral service was held for Roy Nasr, a Lebanese triathlete who was hit by a car while cycling with friends on Friday morning near Safa Park in Dubai. Police later said the driver had been drinking.
The service, at St Francis of Assisi Church in Jebel Ali, was packed with people who came to pay their last respects.
Nasr's wife, Tina, gave a moving speech in tribute to her husband and offered thanks to close friends and family.
"God bless all of you, and God bless my love, my hero, my friend," she said.
Nasr, 49, a co-founder of TriDubai triathlon club, was hit near the Dubai Bowling Centre junction. The driver was arrested.
The triathlete's two cycling companions, Ali and Sarmad, were treated for minor injuries.
Nasr's body will be buried in Dubai and his family will now start to receive friends and well-wishers, after earlier having requested privacy.
His teenage daughter Tala also paid tribute to her father.
"Today the sun is shining and I know that my dad is looking down on all of us," she said. "I know that if he was here he'd say, 'what a beautiful day for a run or a cycle'.
"I'm so proud to be his daughter and I'm so thankful to see how happily he lived his life. I'm so grateful to everyone for all the support you've given us. It warms my heart to see how many people my dad has touched.
"He's always going to be with us. Today is a beautiful day because we're celebrating his life. I want you all to smile, because he was an exceptional person. We're going to miss his beautiful and contagious smile."
The night before he died, Nasr gave an interview to The National about why he loves triathlon.
"I think that conquering any challenge you set yourself in life makes you realise that you can probably do whatever you set your mind to do," he said.
A close friend, Ian Le Pelley, said last weekend that he was shocked by the news.
"Everyone agrees that he was genuinely one of the kindest people that we'd ever met and an inspiration to everyone - not just as a triathlete, but as a human being," Mr Le Pelley said.
At the funeral yesterday, Nasr's teenage son Elie said his father had been a moral compass in his life.
"We had such a healthy way of living, so we didn't have any junk food in the house," Elie said. "I had to sneak out of the house to get some chocolate. I shouldn't have, but he always seemed to know.
"He always wanted me to know that I was stronger than I thought. He always knew where he stood.
"That's why, if I come to the point one day where I lose track of who I am, or where I am, I will always be thinking of my father."
mcroucher@thenational.ae
