When death follows you
Then despair and frustration take over the soul. Darkness drives away light and life is like a wreck. But when death wants to knock on the same door twice, when it takes with it not only one child from one family but both, stripping a house, leaving the embraces of mother and father empty…
Then it is an indescribable tragedy. No one can imagine the magnitude of misery and pain.
About twelve years ago…
The family of Mr. Takis and Mrs. Androulla Papamichael from Liopetri, experienced an incredible tragedy.
Mrs. Androulla reports to ant1iwo:
"I am from the village of Gaidoura in the Province of Famagusta and I was born on 9/9/1951. Unfortunately, sufferings and difficulties haunted me since I was a baby…
I had my first accident on the day of my baptism. My clothes caught fire from the lighted candle while I was in the crib. Fortunately, I saved her with minimal burns. At the age of 3, my father picked me up with him on the compa but at some point I slipped and fell. The company passed over me. I was miraculously saved. At the age of 6, I escaped certain drowning. This time my mother saved me.
In 1979…
I got engaged to Takis and a year later, we got married. In the same year, I gave birth to our first child, Charalambos. After three years I gave birth to the second, Sotiris.
Our income was minimal and with many difficulties we managed to build our house. Then my husband's salary was λί 20 a week. I remember one summer, with a thousand and two savings, I bought a chicken. By the time I got home from the heat he was dead. I had to throw it away but I had nothing else in my fridge, no meat or greens, we would be fasting. I had no choice, I cleaned it and cooked it.
I did not care about poverty because I was happy. I saw Charalambos and my Savior and I was happy. Every day I thanked God for sending me two such wonderful children.
Unfortunately, the calm and joy did not last…
Charalambos at the age of 3, got tired very easily. The problem got worse when he went to kindergarten. I took him to many doctors but no one understood what he had. Later I realized that Sotiris had the same problem with Charalambos. At one point they caught a cold and I took them to the hospital. Charalambos was five years old and Sotiris was two years old. I told the doctor that they were both very tired and after examining them he told me: "If this is what I believe your children will be paralyzed".
At that moment it was as if the whole building had fallen on me. I could not enter the house, I felt very sad. A few days later, the doctor called me and told me that unfortunately, his fears were confirmed. I could not stand it, I said to everyone: "Take my babies and leave the house, I do not want to be seen crying. I can no longer die. " I was walking on the street and crying, I was experiencing the worst pain in my life. But other much worse things were waiting for me…
The doctors who examined my children told us that when they were 12 years old, they would not be able to walk. They would be confined to a wheelchair and would die at the age of 20.
As soon as I heard it I froze, I could not utter a word. I did not know how to react, I went crazy. It was like being stabbed in the chest and stomach, I was in so much pain.
Unfortunately everything happened as we were told. When they were 12 years old, they could not walk, they tried but they fell. Wheelchairs accompanied my children until they were 27 years old, until they died.
Everyone begs their children to grow up but I begged God not to grow up. To stay forever 15 years old.
"I want to tell you something but I want you to endure it. I will die in two days "
My Savior did not learn to read or write, he had a problem. Charalambos, however, finished high school and was a very good student. He was very smart and always said wise and beautiful words to all of us. All these years, I hid the truth from them. I never told them about the seriousness of their condition.
I remember crying when I asked for help to buy a tax-free car. I knocked on many office doors of the then ministers but no one paid attention to me. A minister at the time asked me, in a loud voice, why I wanted such a car. I showed him my children and he told me: "You can go wherever you want but you will not get a tax-free car". I cried and left. But in the end I managed and fortunately I got the car.
The years passed and because my children did not go anywhere other than home, I thought of finding a job in Charalambos. I told someone to hire my son for his job and every month, I would secretly give him λί 200. He would give them to the child as a salary. That way my son would be happy because he would go out, meet and talk to people. Unfortunately, he denied it to me and the child stayed at home.
An afternoon…
My son looked me in the eye and said: "I want to tell you something but I want you to endure it. I will die in two days ". With tears in my eyes I asked him: "My love, do you understand now what you told me?" and he answered me: “Yes mom I understood. I knew what was going to happen in my life and you thought I had understood nothing. I knew that when we left you would sit and cry and when we returned you would sing. I did not see do you think your red eyes? I will leave and you should know that I am not afraid of death. I just want to ask you a favor, never to fight with the pope so that I will be well where I will go. Know that I never had any complaints from you, you always took care of us and loved us very much. "In fact, you are a heroine." At that moment, my other son came into the house and heard him say, "What did you say, Charalambous?" You will die;" and he said to him: "Take care of the mother" the Savior answered him: "Will you leave and will I stay? No, I will die first and you to come later "
This is exactly what happened, my little son died first without preceding anything, without getting sick without anything. That night he was watching TV and asked his aunt to change the channel. He told her: "I want to see Karakamilos for the last time".
It was 11.30 at night…
I told him: "My love, let's go to bed. Until I prepare you, it will be midnight "he laughed and said to me:" Let's go because that way you will murmur to me. "Only tonight, I want you to sit next to me." It's only been 15 minutes since I put him to bed and he, confused, asked me to lift him up. I picked him up and put him in my arms. He looked at his brother and said, "Brother, I'm leaving now." After a minute he closed his eyes. I was shouting like crazy to my husband "Taki the baby oura…".
I honestly can not understand how I found the strength, to give the child to Takis and take the wheel. I drove to the hospital. I was like drunk and I do not remember much. At dawn we brought back my Savior dead at home. I had it on my kitchen table until the time of the funeral. I was wrong, I had to put him in the living room because I had promised them that when I got engaged to them, we would sit in the living room and take out our good tableware to treat everyone.
At Sotiris' funeral, Charalambos asked his friends to take him to the hospital because he was not feeling well. He said to them, "Take me to the hospital, I'm done." They would say to him, "What do you say, Charalambos, think of your mother who is crying?"
As they were taking him, he said to them: "Brilliantly I drove well, I am now dying not to be afraid. Now I'm dying "and he died in the hands of Andreas. When I went to the hospital, they had him in the machines and his eyes were full of blood.
They could not accept the fact that one would leave and the other would stay. Me because I accepted it my God…
I always begged for a Miracle to happen. I said: "My God, the world has changed, do a miracle, if they see my babies get up from the chairs, everyone will believe you, my God !!!" until the last moment I thought that the miracle would happen but it did not happen… "
The money collected from the funerals of Sotiris and Charalambos as well as the wheelchair, Mrs. Androulla and Mr. Takis donated to the Center for people with mental retardation "Apostolos Pavlos" in Liopetri. They wrote the names of their children on the car.
Source: ant1iwo.com