LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A friend of a family member killed in last week’s Southwest Valley fire is asking the community to show the family support during this incredibly challenging time.
On Tuesday, the Clark County Coroner identified the four victims of that fire as 48-year-old Ibrahim Adem, 43-year-old Abdusalem Adem, 7-year-old Anaya Adem and 6-year-old Aaliyah Adem.
“With that family, you don’t know one of them, you know them all. They embrace you as if they’ve known you all of your life, and I think it’s only right that they receive the same amount of love that they gave off to everybody else,” friend Che Jones said.
Jones says he knew Abdusalem for nearly 30 years. He explained how they met playing basketball and would play together at gyms around the Las Vegas Valley.
“There’s no such thing as kind of knowing Abdul, you’re his friend. He’s the guy that walks all the way across the gym to say ‘what’s up’ to you,” Jones says.
Overtime, Jones says Abdusalem became a beloved and respected member of the Valley’s basketball community. He says this sudden and tragic loss hit them all incredibly hard.
“This is a guy that’s a part of the coaching fraternity here in Las Vegas, that we all know, that we all had a lot of respect for, deep friendships,” Jones expressed. “He has these deep connections to people because, at the end of the day, he is doing things not just for his own son, but for other people’s kids.”
Jones says Abdusalem was a good player and coach, but more importantly, a loving father and husband.
He’s asked the community to continue rallying around the family.
“This is a life changing experience, and they’ll need us, they’ll need this basketball community, they’ll need people in this community,” Jones shared. “I hope that we can do a really good job of being a support system for this family as long as they need us.”
The Firefighters of Southern Nevada Burn Foundation is now collecting donations for the family.
You can donate here through Nov. 24, and 100% of donations will go to the family.
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