exclusive
Ricardo died on January 28, the night Storm Kristin left a trail of destruction across Leiria. His father, Fernando, and his stepmother, Adelaide, spoke exclusively to SIC. Unable to contain their emotion, they remember the moment it all happened.
On the night of January 28th, when Storm Kristin entered Leiria, causing an unprecedented trail of destruction, Ricardo, Fernando and Adelaide were together. Suddenly, the wind took away their roof and their son’s life.
“We were inside the warehouse, the three of us together talking, and suddenly there was a bang. The gates flew and everything collapsed. I was thrown to one side (…) and Fernando and Ricardo to the other”, recalls Adelaide.
Without knowing how, he moved through the rubble until he reached Fernando and Ricardo.
“I managed to wake Fernando up, but I couldn’t wake up Ricardo. He was already dead. I tried, but I couldn’t do anything”, he laments.
Without power or communications, Fernando, who was left with broken ribs, even went to the fire station to ask for help for his son, but there was nothing else to do. “It was already late”, he tells SIC.
A night that they remember “all the time” and that will leave lasting impressions.
“It’s a terrible situation. Not being able to save a child is one of the worst things for a father, especially when they are young, fighting and humble, like he was”, recalls Fernando.
Ricardo leaves a son. She is one of the 16 fatal victims of the storm train that hit Portugal.
