Ilir Copani, 22, a mechanical engineering major and first-semester freshman from Tirana, Albania, was killed in a single-vehicle accident while traveling north on Interstate 15 at 3:17 a.m. Friday morning, according to Idaho State Police.

Copani’s cousin and only passenger, Ardit Tashi, 19, a sophomore from Tirana, Albania, at presstime was in the intensive care unit at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls.

Copani and Tashi were returning to Rexburg Friday morning after visiting a friend from Copani’s mission, said Brent Kinghorn, a professor in the Religion Department at BYU-Idaho and former mission president of the Albania Tirana Mission.

Kinghorn speculates that Copani fell asleep while driving his 2000 Isuzu Trooper.

Copani overcorrected, overturned the vehicle and came to rest back in the median. Copani died at the scene. Tashi, not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the vehicle, according to the police report.

Kinghorn said Tashi is dealing with multiple injuries, including a fractured skull, hip and elbow, and internal bleeding.

He is still in critical condition, but the doctors are “guardedly optimistic“ he will recover.

Tashi’s parents had just traveled to Rexburg in December when his sister, Ina Tashi, graduated with her associate’s degree.

“These were fine boys,” Kinghorn said. “You wonder when good people are killed, what the Lord has in store for them.”

“Ilir was the kind who could make such a difference in Albania,” Kinghorn said. “[He] was well-liked by everyone.”

Copani returned home this past December from serving in the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission.

Kinghorn said he had the opportunity to extend Copani his mission call while serving in Albania. “After I called Ilir to tell him I had received his call, he ran the whole 3 miles from his home to the mission home to find out where he was being called.”

Copani’s former mission president told Kinghorn that Copani “epitomized exact obedience and boldness” while serving in Pennsylvania.

“Ardit often translated for me and also for many of the brethren [area presidencies] while they were visiting Albania,” Kinghorn said.

Copani had just begun his studies in mechanical engineering. “He is very outgoing and spoke excellent English,” Kinghorn said. He was an avid mountain climber and climbed to the base of Mount Everest as the youngest member of an Albanian mountain climbing team.

Kinghorn said his “thoughts go to their parents and how hard it is because they live so far away.”

A Tribute From the Albanian Society:

Think Twice.It's Your Life

A saying that proved itself to be true one more time on an early Friday morning, gave us the opportunity to partake of the joys of our life and cherish them dearly.  "God throws you with one hand, and catches you with the other", is what we mostly hear people say in our country in days when there is no hope left, but there is still a small amount of assurance which keeps you standing on your own feet.  This might very well be the case of Ilir and Ardit, the sons from the Land of the Eagles, the sons of two broken-heart sisters, the sons of many future dreams. 

Loving every ticktack of the day, Ilir found himself in the arms of a tragic death; while Ardit's every single cell shouts for recover. A morning that swallowed Ilir in the darkness of itself, gave Ardit the consent to go ahead and fight for his own dreams.  Ilir's blissful spirit and expression that would cheer up from a twinkle of light in his eyes, was not of small importance to all of the Albanian students on the campus of Brigham Young University-Idaho.  He loved living his life while keeping in mind his passionate dreams for his own future, and what he maybe knows now is the love we all express to him and the condolences we convey to his family in Albania.  We, the Albanian Heritage Association, take part of this immense tragedy, and we would kindly ask that you all could keep these two beloved brothers and their families in your thoughtful prayers. 

May you all join with us in humbling our hearts before God, and pray for the recovery of Ardit and the calmness of his family.  May this be the last tragedy that will open our minds, our eyes, and our hearts to a safer tomorrow.  May Ilir's mother be the last mother that will suffer from the sorrows of the son she sent to the land where all dreams come true.even that of death.