Ethiopian Airline Crash: Pius Adesanmi’s Emotional Open Letter To His Daughter Before His Death
The wife of Nigerian-Canadian professor Pius Adesanmi, who died in the ill-fated Ethiopian airplane crash has broken the sad news to their daughter.
Mrs. Adesanmi, in a picture she shared on social media is seen breaking the news of her husband’s death to their daughter, Tise, in Canada while suspending her own grief.
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The Nigerian Canada based scholar met his death in the ill-fated Ethiopian Airline that killed him and 156 others on Sunday, 10th of March, 2019. He was a dual citizen of Nigeria and Canada.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 carrying 149 passengers and eight crew members, lost contact with air traffic controllers six minutes after taking off on its way to Nairobi, Kenya.
It crashed near Bishoftu, southeast of the Ethiopian capital, Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement. The airline said 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, eight Americans and seven British nationals were among the passengers. Prof Pius flew as a Canadian not Nigerian.
Professor Adesanmi before his death wrote his daughter an emotional open letter. Due to the nature of his job, he hardly had time to spend with his family. However whenever he had spare time, he always resorted to spending it well with them.
In the letter which was written in the year 2017, he talked about leaving home at all times and leaving the girl in a sad mood.
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”The toughest part? The tears heralding every departure. The accusations. The tantrums. You are going again!!!The pleading. The cajoling. The explanations. These trips, they are Daddy’s work. Your own trip with Daddy is in August. That is when the family vacation comes. But I’ve been to your work. Your office is not on an airplane. Every time you go to the airplane without me you say it is work.Another round of coaxing, sweet talking, pleading. You try to explain this kind of work that takes you to the airplane. And away. From her. You are struggling. Then she breaks it down brilliantly the way nature has wired toddlers to be far beyond us.Daddy is this also like the hard work that you say they give you money at the end of the month when you do it? Toddler-speak and syntax for salary.Yes, Tise, when you work hard you make money to buy things.So when you leave on the airplane, you make money to buy me happy meals?Yes.Lots of happy meals?Yes.At the new McDonalds?Yes.Her face dissolves into happiness. She is dancing now and running around the house and helping me pack. And we dance like best friends all the way to the airport.And she waves me bye and tells me to remember my promise of happy meals from the money I make on this trip.I suppress a tear and walk to check in, afraid to look back and catch her gaze…”
In what was apparently his last post on Facebook, Prof Adesanmi, on March 9 at 12.56, posted a picture of himself in characteristic smile, holding his Canadian passport and wrote:
“If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me – Psalm 139:9-10”
The heartbreaking crash of the Ethiopia Airlines left communities across the world grieving and prompted an intense backlash against the plane’s manufacturer.
All 157 people aboard the flight died when the plane, a brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8, went down just minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa.
It was the second deadly crash in five months involving that model of aircraft. Both crashes are under investigation and there is no evidence of a link between the two, but the similarities led some airlines and governments to ground their 737 MAX 8 fleets.
Boeing said it had no plans for new guidance while the investigation into Sunday’s crash is in its early stages.
May their souls rest in peace!
Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images