Mehdi Habibi’s parents Mirtold and Karima continue daily search for teen lost off Granite Island rocks

It’s been two weeks since Mehdi Habibi was swept into the ocean but every day, his grief-stricken parents returns to Granite Island.

Tears flowed freely at Mehdi Habibi’s 17th birthday party as family gathered to celebrate the aspiring young plumber.

The guest of honour was absent – missing and presumed drowned after being swept into the ocean off rocks near Victor Harbor.

The gathering last Saturday at Mehdi’s Blair Athol home included a birthday cake and candles, but the mood was anything but joyous.

“We had a cake for him, my family and my brother and his wife … Sahil was crying, his mum was crying,” Mehdi’s ­father Mirtold The Sunday Mail.

Mehdi Habibi has been missing from Granite Island after being swept from rocks for two weeks. Supplied by family.

Missing Teenager Mehdi Habibi with his father Mir Habibi and Brother Sahil Habibi. Picture: Supplied by Family

He shows us a picture of the candle-adorned cheesecake (Mehdi’s favourite) and adds that his eldest son was studying hard and wanted to be a plumber.

“I asked what do you want for your birthday … and all he wanted was a white T-shirt and we were going to go ­shopping for it,” Mr Habibi said during our emotional ­interview.

It’s been two weeks since Mehdi was swept from the rocks on Granite Island near Victor Harbor, a tragedy that shocked the state after being caught on film by his younger brother Sahil.

Mr Habibi said his eldest son’s bedroom remained the same, its walls adorned with pictures of the horses and soccer players he adored.

But the bed is empty every night as Mr Habibi, his wife Karima and son Sahil, 14, retain the slimmest of hopes Mehdi might still be found alive.

Up until the tragedy the close-knit family had been spending weekends exploring their new home in South Australia, from attractions such as the Blue Lake at Mount Gambier to Cleland National Park in the Adelaide Hills.

Brother of the missing teen, Sahil Habibi waiting and hoping for his brother’s return. Picture: NewsWire / Roy VanDerVegt

Now Mir and Karima instead continue their daily trip to Granite Island to search for their son or sit on a bench looking over the water to be close to him.

“When I’m at Granite Island my heart is normal, it slows down; if I come back here (to Adelaide) my heart starts to pump faster and my head is filled with so many thoughts,” Mr Habibi said.

“We know it is unlikely he is OK … we just pray to God every day that we can find him.”

The Granite Island tragedy came just months after the family was reunited following 14 years of separation that started when they fled the ­brutal Taliban regime in ­Afghanistan.

The family’s harrowing journey began when the couple escaped their home city Kabul and crossed the border into Pakistan with thousands of other refugees.

Neither was allowed to work in Pakistan so Mr Hab­ibi, desperate to find safety for his wife and two young boys, paid to be transported across land to Jakarta.

He then spent a dangerous month at sea in a boat carrying 173 asylum seekers, with little food and water, desperate for a new life in Australia.

Mother of missing teen Mehdi Habibi walks the across the Granite Island causeway after Police and SES suspended search for Mehdi. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Instead he was apprehended by border police and spent a year in a detention centre on Christmas Island before being granted asylum in Australia.

The next hurdle was a years-long process to gain citizenship before Mr Habibi was allowed to apply for his wife and sons to join him in Adelaide.

Mr Habibi was only able to visit them twice in Pakistan. But last November he finally saw his wife and two sons walk through the international ­arrival doors at Adelaide ­Airport.

Mr Habibi was holding a dozen red roses for his wife when they arrived and Mehdi and Sahil ran from the door to hug their father.

“I came here, I was working for my citizenship for six or seven years … I worked in many different areas, the travel agency, civil services, in childcare.

“I worked 18 hours, 20 hours to send money to my family and to get them here,” the travel agency branch manager said.

The moment before Mehdi Habibi was swept from a rock on Granite Island. Picture: 7NEWS

Mehdi Habibi swept from a rock on Granite Island. Picture: 7NEWS

“We were very happy, they were very happy, it was very good they were safe here, they were learning English, being educated.”

But about 1pm on September 1 the Habibis joined other family members on the beach in Victor Harbor to celebrate Father’s Day.

Ms Habibi’s brother and his wife were there with their children aged four and five, a niece from Sydney with her four-year-old.

The smaller children were playing games.

“My two sons asked ‘can we go and take a picture on the island’ and they would not be long,” Mr Habibi said.

“A while later my son Sahil was calling me on my phone and he was crying, he said ‘come, Mehdi has gone into the water and I can’t see him’.

“Sahil caught his hand but it slipped; Sahil said ‘my hand slipped and he was gone’.

Family at the scene. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

“I was very shocked and ran really fast and called the police as I went, so did Sahil call the police and so did other members of my family.”

Mr Habibi said family members were sure they saw his son in the water about 30 minutes after being swept from the rocks bywaves.

But a large-scale search by police and emergency services for 10 days, including the police helicopter and water operations unit, failed to find Mehdi.

There has been great support and kindness from the community, many helping with the search and the boys’ principal and vice-principal at Adelaide Secondary School visiting to offer assistance with Sahil returning to school – one even offering to drive him home each day.