By JARROD POTTER
The North Dandenong community is grieving after the tragic shooting death of sporting all-rounder Rahat Khan.
On Tuesday evening, Khan, 20, from Dandenong died in Dallas, in Melbourne’s north, after suffering a single gun-shot wound to the upper chest.
The exact circumstances surrounding the death are yet to be determined and the Victoria Police investigation is ongoing.
After the shooting a friend attempted to drive Khan to hospital before pulling over on Millewa Crescent in Dallas to ask passers-by for assistance.
But despite the best efforts of passers-by, police and paramedics, Khan could not be revived.
His family emigrated from Afghanistan and Khan immediately flourished in Australia on every sporting field he could find.
He was North Dandenong’s junior cricket captain in a team that won a DDCA under-13s flag in 2008/09, played in a Sunday turf premiership with Clayton in 2011/12 – making 50 not out in the grand final – and was just as gifted at football.
Khan won the 2010 league best-and-fairest in the DDJFL, a premiership, and was also an interleague representative.
Friends and team-mates flocked to Facebook to share their grief, talking about how driven, funny and passionate he was about his sport.
North Dandenong cricket team-mate Stefan De Silva described him as an unbelievable talent who supporters couldn’t wait to see head out to the middle – whether in cricket or footy.
“First met Rahat and brother Javid Khan when they came to the club – would’ve only been 9-10,” De Silva said.
“Raw talent, but he was just like a fish to water when it came to cricket and then same deal with footy – him and (Clay) McCartney, memories of those two playing around at the club – even after juniors and seniors had finished they would hang around and play at the club.
“His passion for cricket was great and it’s hard to deal with as you can imagine as it’s still raw.”
North Dandenong football team-mate Jayden Macdonald remembered Khan as the person everyone looked up to – whether it was on or off the field – and he set an amazing standard as one of the club’s Muslim footballers.
“He was just a happy dude, always smiling and always wanted to be on the field and played for as many teams as he could,” Macdonald said.
“I think it’s caught everyone by shock for the kid he was – always was an athlete and that was his first priority.
“He was just that good at football and always played up (an age group) in our team – was a funny guy, cult figure – had the skills around him to grab everyone’s attention.”
Friends said Khan’s devotion to his religion made playing sport during Ramadan a great challenge but that he never wavered in his commitment to his team-mates.
“Culture was a massive thing for him and something I always looked up to,” Macdonald said.
“In our club, Muslims became a massive part of the numbers and before training he would take them into the rooms and they would have prayer before they went out on the track.
“During the finals was during Ramadan also and he’d go through the games without water or food – it was very impressive.”
The Sharks will wear black armbands this weekend in Khan’s honour.
