DEARBORN — The local community in the Dearborn area was devastated by the death of Hezam Hussein, a 19-year-old Arab American who died late last Saturday night while attempting to rescue the occupants of a disabled vehicle on the Lodge Freeway, M-10, in Southfield.

Hussein was fatally struck near Nine Mile Road after pulling his vehicle onto the freeway shoulder and rushing to help the occupants of a car that had been severely damaged when it struck the median barrier after being rear-ended by another vehicle that fled the scene.

He was laid to rest on Monday at Woodmere Cemetery in southwest Detroit, adjacent to Dearborn, following funeral prayers at Dix Mosque. A large number of worshippers and mourners attended, including the African American woman whom the young man of Yemeni descent had tried to rescue.

In a video circulated on social media, the elderly woman, visibly overcome with grief, said she had made a point of attending in person to offer her condolences out of respect for Hussein’s courage and sacrifice.

The woman, who used Uber to travel to Dearborn because her car was disabled, described the tragic incident, noting that Hussein and another person had come to help her after her vehicle became disabled in the roadway.

She explained that Hussein had called police to report the crash when another vehicle veered off the roadway and struck him.

“A vehicle came and ran him over while he was there waiting for police to arrive,” she said.

Videos posted on social media showed the African American woman attending both the funeral at Dix Mosque and the burial at historic Woodmere Cemetery.

According to available information, Hussein stopped at approximately 11:40 p.m. to help people involved in a traffic crash. Another vehicle then swerved to avoid the disabled car, which was blocking two lanes, and struck him while he was standing on the shoulder.

Hussein was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency responders’ attempts to revive him through cardiopulmonary resuscitation were unsuccessful.

Southfield police said Hussein had not been involved in the initial two-vehicle collision, which left one vehicle disabled in the roadway. Police noted that the driver of the vehicle that subsequently struck the young Yemeni American stopped at the scene and cooperated with investigators.

Police added in a statement that the preliminary investigation showed no indication that alcohol or drugs contributed to the fatal collision. No charges had been filed against the driver, and the incident remained under investigation by Michigan State Police.

In a statement to The Arab American News, Mohammed Hussein expressed his acceptance of God’s will and decree following the loss of his son. He said Hezam’s death was a painful loss for his family, relatives, friends and loved ones. What offered some comfort amid that grief, however, was that his son died while doing a good deed, taking the initiative to help others, including people he did not know.

Hussein’s father, who immigrated from Yemen to the United States in 2000, said his late son was a U.S. citizen and was completing preparatory studies at Henry Ford College with plans to pursue dentistry.