Many times things happen and we shiver. The Helios airline accident 3 years ago was one of them. 121 people died. The pilot forgot to adjust the oxygen levels in the cockpit and he and the copilot fainted. They blocked the door. Andreas Prodromou, a stewart who also was a trained pilot, managed to get in and lift the plane. He managed to fly the plane for as long as there was fuel. Had there be enough fuel left for 10 more minutes, Andreas would have landed the plane and noone would have been killed. The F16 pilot that was flying alongside testified that. Andreas did not try to land in Spata. Perhaps he was afraid for more deaths. Noone knows that.
Three years have passed and we forgot. When we remember we shiver. The same is true for so many instances of unfair loss of fellow men. But there are some people that remember every day. Twenty four hours a day. For ever. And their life will not be the same. But they manage to live. And they live for as long as they can. And they will always carry their grief. And will always value what is important in life. People that have lost a child are always marked with an outstanding amount of maturity and endurance. Once you have seen this mark on one parent that has burried a child you recognize it in all of them.
Such a face was that of Dinos Prodromou, the father of Andreas, he was flying back to Cyprus and was sitting next to me. He was coming back from the crash site as he and the relatives of the other victims are now building a church there. To remember.
Mr Prodromou cried when we talked about the accident and the circumstances that it took place. I cried as well. And then he tried to consol me and make me feel betterand talked about life and his face lit up. The grief was still there but he was smiling.
We have to remember that we have to live and we have to remember the ones that are gone.
