Along with his father, Ahmed Abdel-Ghany, at least a dozen more good family friends would be shot dead.
As news broke of the worst terrorist attack in New Zealand's history Omar Abdel-Ghany "forced" himself to watch the video of how the terrorist carried out his hateful attack.
He thought he had seen a glimpse of his 68-year-old dad in his regular spot at the Masjid Al Noor Mosque.
"I kept it to myself because I didn't want to worry anyone, and I was hopeful that maybe he was in the hospital."
But his dad was one of 50 people killed in the Christchurch mosque massacre on March 15.
It did not "sink in" until he finally saw his father's body on the Thursday after the attack.
That was when his family's tremendous loss "really hit home".
Ahmed Abdel-Ghany was "well-loved" in his community, his son said, and even more so by his tight-knit family, with nieces who treated him like their own dad.
Gentle, kind, compassionate - a man who never raised his voice, never argued.
"He was a very calm person," Omar Abdel-Ghany said.
"He was always a very supportive husband and father."
Omar and Ahmed Abdel-Ghany. Photo / Supplied
Omar Abdel-Ghany said his father generously gave people the benefit of the doubt and choose to see the best in people.
His "beautiful soul" would be "sorely missed by so many people".
A lifetime of memories had included a great sense of wanderlust as he "loved travelling the world" in the Egyptian navy and a stint in the hotel business in a management role in at a five-star hotel.
At one point in his life he could speak seven languages fluently.
When his family immigrated to New Zealand in 1996 work was harder to come by and Ahmed Abdel-Ghany picked up a job in at a steel company.
After his retirement he started selling Egyptian puff doughnuts in a food truck with his wife in Christchurch's Cathedral Square.
"My dad has never been the type to sit at home."
Omar Abdel-Ghany attended one of the largest gatherings for Friday prayers he had ever been a part of before he farewelled his father for the last time.
He was taken aback by the sea of people, and the incredible show of solidarity as women across the country donned hijabs.
"It really was quite humbling," he said.
Omar Abdel-Ghany credited Al Noor Mosque imam Gamal Fouda with finding the right words to share how deeply the Muslim community wanted to express their thanks for that.
Heartbroken but not broken, he had told the crowd.
That afternoon emotions ran higher as his father was buried during a mass funeral.
"To carry my father to his grave, to put him in it, and to bury him with my own hands - it was a difficult moment but at the same time it brought so much closure.
"Up until that moment I felt lost.
"Somehow after burying him I felt at peace.
"I felt this weird sort of calmness, peacefulness, and I guess that's closure."
His family are still grieving but coping, he said.
"It is literally day-by-day.
"Nothing will ever be the same."
He knew so many other people who were so deeply traumatised by what happened, they might not ever be able to walk back into those mosques again, he said.
"We are just so thankful that we have so much support from friends and family, the greater Christchurch and New Zealand community. That has really, really helped us.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you."
