HIS HEARTBROKEN COWORKERS, AHMED AL-KHATIB WAS A MENTAL HEALTH TECH HERE AT GRIFFIN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL IN THE EARLY HOURS OF TUESDAY. HE TRAGICALLY WENT ON HIS LUNCH BREAK AND NEVER CAME BACK. I KEEP CALLING AND CALLING AND TEXTING AND CALLING AND TEXTING. IT WAS JUST AFTER 230 TUESDAY MORNING WHEN AHMED L-KHATIB TOOK HIS LUNCH. HE WAS WORKING THE NIGHT SHIFT AT GRIFFIN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, SITTING AT A RED LIGHT AT ROBINSON AND FLOOD. POLICE SAY THAT’S WHEN ANOTHER DRIVER CRASHED INTO HIM FROM BEHIND, KILLING THEM BOTH INSTANTLY. I JUST HAD TO READ IT LIKE 2 OR 3 TIMES AND THEN I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT OF THE EMPLOYEES AT GRIFFIN BECAUSE HE WAS SO POPULAR. OUR PATIENTS, YOU KNOW, ALL SUFFER FROM SOME SORT OF MENTAL ILLNESS OR ADDICTION AND HAVE A ROUGH TIME SOMETIMES. AND A LOT OF THEM ARE THERE NOT BECAUSE THEY WANT TO. AND SO HE HAD A WAY WITH THEM TO REALLY REDUCE THE STRESS AND ANXIETY THAT THEY WERE FEELING. AUTHORITIES ARE STILL INVESTIGATING THE CAUSE OF THE CRASH, BUT SAY SPEEDING AND IMPAIRMENT COULD HAVE PLAYED A FACTOR AFTER FINDING EVIDENCE IN THE OTHER DRIVER’S CAR. AND WE LOSE THEM YOUNG AND UNEXPECTED. AND OUR FIRST REACTION IS TO SAY, OH, THAT’S TERRIBLE, BECAUSE HE WAS HE WAS A REALLY NICE GUY. YOU KNOW, YOU DON’T WANT TO, YOU KNOW, OH, HE WAS A NICE GUY WITH HIM WHEN YOU SAID HE WAS A REALLY GREAT GUY, YOU WAS BEFORE WORKING AT THE HOSPITAL. AHMED WAS A LIEUTENANT AT JOSEPH HARP CORRECTIONAL CENTER. HE WAS ALSO IN THE ARMY RESERVE. A FORMER CASE MANAGER SAID HE ALWAYS PUT PEPLE FIRST. IT WAS LIKE HE GENUINELY CARED. SO ANYTIME I HAD AN ISSUE AT JOSEPH HARP, HE WAS THE FIRST OFFICER THAT I WOULD LOOK FOR. GRIFFIN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL SAID AHMED WAS A DEDICATED EMPLOYEE WHO WILL BE GREATLY MISSED. THE HOSPITAL IS PLANNING TO HONOR HIM IN A PRIVATE CEREMONY. IT WAS SO JUST VERY DEVASTATING FOR US, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE WE HAVE FAMILY. YOU KNOW,
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‘He genuinely cared’: Hospital remembers employee killed in Norman car crash
Ahmed Elkahtib was a mental health technician at the hospital. He was on his lunch break when the collision happened.
Updated: 6:51 AM CDT Oct 20, 2023
A Norman hospital is grieving one of its own following a deadly car crash this week. On Tuesday, two drivers were killed in an accident at the intersection of Robinson Street and Flood Avenue in Norman. One of those drivers was an employee at Griffin Memorial Hospital. | MORE | Norman police release identities of 2 drivers killed in early morning crashAhmed Elkahtib was a mental health technician at the hospital. He was on his lunch break when the collision happened. “I keep calling and texting and calling and texting,” said Bandu Barclay, the nurse coordinator at the hospital. The crash happened around 2:30 p.m. Elkahtib was working the night shift at the hospital. Sitting at a red light at the intersection of Robinson and Flood, police said another driver crashed into Elkahtib from behind, killing both drivers instantly. “I just had to read it two or three times, then I immediately thought of the employees at Griffin because he was so popular,” said Dean Jackson, the former director of nursing at the hospital. “Our patients all suffer from some sort of mental illness or addiction and had a rough time sometimes, and a lot of them are there, not because they want to, and he had a way with them to really reduce the stress and anxiety they were feeling.” Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash, but they said speeding and impairment could have played a role after finding evidence in the other driver’s car. “When we lose someone young and unexpected, our first reaction is to say ‘Oh, that’s terrible. He was a really nice guy.’ But with him, when you say he was a really great guy, he was,” said Jo Johnston, a former coworker of Elkahtib at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center. Before working at the hospital, he was a lieutenant at the correction center. He was also in the Army Reserve. He is remembered as someone who always put people first. “It was like he genuinely cared. So anytime I had an issue at Joseph Harp, he was the first officer that I would look for,” said Johnston. Coworkers said Elkahtib was a dedicated employee who will be greatly missed. Griffin Memorial is planning to honor him in a private ceremony. “It was so devastating for us because we are family. We create an environment where we look out for one another,” said Barclay. Top Headlines Oklahoma drivers who fail to move over, slow down for stopped vehicles will face increased fines Oklahoma lawmakers divided on if DEI programs should be cut Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office makes arrest in downtown OKC shooting 2 taken to hospital after pursuit ends in crash Fall festival supports programs for adults with disabilities
A Norman hospital is grieving one of its own following a deadly car crash this week.
On Tuesday, two drivers were killed in an accident at the intersection of Robinson Street and Flood Avenue in Norman. One of those drivers was an employee at Griffin Memorial Hospital.
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| MORE | Norman police release identities of 2 drivers killed in early morning crash
Ahmed Elkahtib was a mental health technician at the hospital. He was on his lunch break when the collision happened.
“I keep calling and texting and calling and texting,” said Bandu Barclay, the nurse coordinator at the hospital.
The crash happened around 2:30 p.m. Elkahtib was working the night shift at the hospital.
Sitting at a red light at the intersection of Robinson and Flood, police said another driver crashed into Elkahtib from behind, killing both drivers instantly.
“I just had to read it two or three times, then I immediately thought of the employees at Griffin because he was so popular,” said Dean Jackson, the former director of nursing at the hospital. “Our patients all suffer from some sort of mental illness or addiction and had a rough time sometimes, and a lot of them are there, not because they want to, and he had a way with them to really reduce the stress and anxiety they were feeling.”
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash, but they said speeding and impairment could have played a role after finding evidence in the other driver’s car.
“When we lose someone young and unexpected, our first reaction is to say ‘Oh, that’s terrible. He was a really nice guy.’ But with him, when you say he was a really great guy, he was,” said Jo Johnston, a former coworker of Elkahtib at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center.
Before working at the hospital, he was a lieutenant at the correction center. He was also in the Army Reserve.
He is remembered as someone who always put people first.
“It was like he genuinely cared. So anytime I had an issue at Joseph Harp, he was the first officer that I would look for,” said Johnston.
Coworkers said Elkahtib was a dedicated employee who will be greatly missed. Griffin Memorial is planning to honor him in a private ceremony.
“It was so devastating for us because we are family. We create an environment where we look out for one another,” said Barclay.
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