Christian Atsu.
By Maxine Jasmin-Green
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I didn’t know anyone who perished in the recent earthquakes. About two weeks ago, the Partner of Christian Atsu, was interviewed on BBC 24 news as she spoke, I could hear the emotion in her voice as she was trying to hold herself together and not burst into tears.
She had heard he had been pulled out alive and was in hospital, then nineteen hours later, she was informed, he was not in hospital but missing.
She had spoken to him two days before the quake. She wanted him to come home to her and their children.
Although I hadn’t heard of him before, I too hoped against hope, that he would be found safe and well. I wondered what he would be thinking, wherever he is, in hospital or not. I wondered if he knew what had happened? I know he would have thought of his Partner and children.
Each day, after many days, ten and more days, adults, and children, they were pulled alive from the rubble. It was truly amazing.
To think, for many days after the quake, people were still alive, it must have been fantastic to be saved, they if they are old enough will have stories to tell their family and friends. The babies, the story will be told for them. For those not saved, but alive after the quake, it must have been just awful. They would have been cold, hungry thirsty and injured. To be buried alive…….
Amongst the rubble, in one part of the disaster, it showed one building standing strong, standing out from all the rest, this building was surrounded by buildings that were all completely, razed to the ground, it is the building, built by the builders! Erdogan faces backlash over building standards in city wrecked by quake, the Guardian on-line.
It was sad to hear, that on the day of the earthquake Christian was due to fly out of Turkey. He had been misidentified, as been alive in hospital. He had played for Chelsea and Newcastle but now played for Antakya side Hatayspor in Turkey.
His remains has been flown to his homeland of Ghana, he was thirty one years old. Sky News. R.I.P.
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Comments
Your writing will be a good
Your writing will be a good way to remember this tragedy looking back in future years, and some of the personal tragedies you outline.
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very sad. It's easy to point
very sad. It's easy to point the finger. Like you, I read The Observer report which claimed building work was poor. We get that here too. But nobody died of it, unless you lived in Grenfell.
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The death of Atsu has made it
The death of Atsu has made it very real over here if it wasn't already. A genuine tragedy of unimaginable magnitude. Not sure it's such a surprise that building standards are an issue as they seem to be elsewhere. Let's hope future planning in countries like Turkey take this into account as we hope the lessons of Grenfell are heeded here. I thought your write up was very moving.
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