Rescue turns to recovery

Cautionary note: I realise it has not been confirmed officially but it seems we are looking at a tragic end to this....I HOPE I AM WRONG OF COURSE.




So here we are some 25 hours on from my post yesterday and still no aircraft, still no sign of either passenger and hope begins to fade to sorrow.


It's the strangest sensation when you begin to mourn someone when you don't know for sure if they've even passed away.  They're also someone you've never met and whilst on one hand you know it makes little sense, what in this world does?


On a footballing level, Sala represented a new hope, Cardiff City have been up against it in recent weeks and he was to be our saviour.  He represented a renewed effort from the Bluebirds to prove the critics wrong and achieve mission impossible avoiding relegation.


On another altogether more important level he is a young man in the prime of his life and excited to make the next step into the world's spotlight.  Couple that with a family desperate for information and loved ones and friends incredulous at what's happened and frankly who cares about the football?


This one really hurts and it feels wrong to be saying it, almost as if I have no right to be in mourning for someone I never really knew let alone saw play for my team.


Nevertheless, I don't know what to do but write it all down and hope it all makes sense one day.


My prayer was that they were found alive and well but now it seems that isn't a realistic option.  It's got to the stage where I'm refreshing twitter just hoping they've located the aircraft and the families can finally know what's happened.


I'm not interested at the moment in who is to blame and whether it could have been stopped, all I care about now is  finding them and allowing their families to begin to move forward with the process.


Sala, you will always be the one that got away and it'll always be the greatest pain to everyone involved, I can only hope you're both at peace now and the worries of this world are long behind you.

What on earth has happened?

Don't shout at me for writing this, if you don't care what I think don't read on....

It’s 12:16 on Tuesday 22.01.2019 and I’m sat in my office at Cardiff airport trying to focus on a monitor that’s becoming increasingly blurry.  Emiliano Sala, Cardiff City’s club record signing has gone missing in a light aircraft incident and no one knows where he is.

 

As I type this the French authorities have confirmed Sala was on board the aircraft thereby destroying all hope that he was still in France awaiting a flight to South Wales.  The coastguard are continuing to search for the player and pilot last seen on radar just north west of Guernsey before all contact was lost.

 

Social media has become a hot bed of rumour, confusion and outrage at those who would choose to make light of such a tragedy or just as poorly, use the incident to generate revenue from clicks.  I am just numb and to be fair, completely in shock.

 

You feel guilty for even thinking about the football right now, who cares if he’d have been a great striker when two people might have lost their lives?  As much as this is true you can’t completely forget the hopes and dreams you had built with him in mind.

 

The winning goal he was going to score one day, the first time he did the ayatollah at the Cardiff City Stadium.  Hearing the stadium announcer read his name and the crowd respond with a welcoming roar.

 

All of this of course pales into insignificance when you remember he and the pilot MAY have lost their lives in a harrowing crash in the cold and dark sea and their family members will be bereft awaiting the news.

 

I don’t know why I’ve written this, maybe it’s self indulgent therapy I don’t know.  One thing I do know is, I can’t believe this happened and my thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved.

 

Once a Bluebird, always a Bluebird.