Photo courtesy of Brandi Sturgill
Fatih Ilhan, Turkish exchange student studying chemical engineering, passed away Monday December 1, 2008, in a dual-fatality accident in front of Rose-Hulman. Fatih was ejected from the rear seat of the car and killed on impact. Services were held Wednesday December 3, 2008, in Indianapolis at Al-Fajr Masjid Mosque.
This past August, Fatih Ilhan came to the United States for the first time in his life. This past Monday, his life was taken in an icy car accident close to school on U.S. 40.
Ilhan was an exchange student from Istanbul, Turkey who came to America with fellow Yeditepe University student Leyla Ozgur this past summer. Ilhan was 21 and was studying chemical engineering at about the junior or senior level, according to Karen DeGrange, Director of International Student Services and Special Programs.
On Monday, December 1 at about 6pm, Ilhan, Ozgur and senior electrical engineering major Orcun Tekarslan, who was driving, were on their way back from Walmart and had turned on to eastbound U.S. 40 from Indiana State Route 46. Due to the icy roads, the car ended up sliding into westbound lanes, in the way of opposing traffic.
A car driven by Candres McCord collided into Tekarslan’s car, ejecting Ilhan from the backseat and landed on the side of the road. Mark and Patricia LaGrange, the parents of McCord were also seriously injured in the crash; Mark LaGrange died at Methodist Hospital later that night. Tekarslan and Ozgur were not seriously injured.
Photo courtesy of Brandi Sturgill
In the short time that Ilhan had been at Rose, he had already made an impact on some people. Senior chemical engineering major Nick Easter recalled that “Fatih was a good humored guy with an infectious smile and a quick laugh.”
Ilhan’s death marks the fourth Rose student in the 2008 calendar year, all of which have been vehicular accidents. Earlier this school year, Cory Salem was killed in a motorcycle accident. Last April, Nick Lee and Brandon Couch were killed in separate, unrelated accidents only three days apart. Before this, according to Pete Gustafson, the last time Rose has dealt with a death in the community was all the way back during the 1994–1995 school year when there were three deaths that year, including a car accident and a drowning in Speed Lake.