Christelle Adem

36-year old Christelle, a beautiful soul that left this world too soon, leaving behind broken hearts, and a silence filled with an unspeakable anger.

Her schoolmates still remember how smart she was. Christelle was an avid learner and always sharp looking; she loved music, arts, and sports.

Young Christelle was a dreamer and an achiever. She was keen and enthusiastic; she was assertive, with a large sense of self confidence.

At Saint Joseph University where she studied Economics, Christelle was famous for her motivation, charisma, and team spirit.

She was very successful, and when she left Lebanon to pursue her master’s degree in Economics in France, she was soon after employed by one of the biggest European banks in Geneva.

Christelle lived abroad for nine years, while her parents missed her so much. And when they couldn’t bear life without her, they convinced her to come back to Lebanon. They had no idea return will come with a price so big, it burns their hearts.

Back in  Lebanon, Christelle worked at Bank of Beirut, as a Consumer Banking Manager. Without her, the office is an empty, cold place.

Ten minutes before the explosion, Christelle arrived home. She was alone; her parents were in the village of Daraaoun, her home town. Suddenly, everything around her turned into a huge chaos. Just before she died, she called her father –cardiologist Nazih Adem, and asked him to save her. These were her last words.

Her father rushed to their home in Gemmayze. On his way, he saw dead bodies in the streets. And when he arrived, Christelle had already died. But he still could not give up. He tried to resuscitate her, but her heart had already stopped for good. He took her to a nearby hospital where she was evacuated by an ambulance to an unknown location. Dr. Nazih spent the night looking for his daughter among dead bodies in the hospitals of Beirut. That night ripped off his smile forever. In his heart there’ll forever be a painful longing beyond the dimensions of this earth.