Nilo, the Everyday Hero

My friend, confidant, and driver Nilo passed away last night. He was in a comatose for the past 3 days after getting hit by a pretty bad stroke early Monday morning. He left behind his grade school son and his wife. I visited him at the Manila Hospital around 9PM and he was already in critical condition. My eyes, brain, and heart couldn’t comprehend how this happened so fast. Just last Saturday Nilo and I were going around the Metro meeting clients and working on various projects. He was so full of life and we were even talking about how life would change once I got married.

I walked up to him and met his family for the first time. His wife was devastated. I tried my best to comfort her and told her that I would try to help as much as I can. Mich and I then went over to Nilo and offered a prayer for him. After a few minutes, Nilo’s breathing started to slow down, and eventually the nurses had to go there to do CPR and they began emergency measures. Nilo passed away half an hour later.

You don’t really know how valuable something or someone is until they’re gone. While accompanying the nurse bring the body to the morgue, I couldn’t help but think of all the good times that I had with him. Nilo has only been with me for the past four months but as most of you know, the last four months for me have been really life-changing. Unknown to most, Nilo actually helped and gave lots of input in the planning of my proposal to my fiancee. More than anything though the thing I will miss are the random conversations we would have while we suffer the intolerable rush hour traffic of Makati and Edsa. Sometimes we would talk about my problems – be it at work or with my family. He’d offer advice since he was technically my “Kuya”. I remember him sharing about how proud he was of his own family and that he’s really excited to see his kid grow up and become a man. This guy worked really hard and the only thing that he really aspires for is that his kid would have a better life than him.

Nilo was an everyday hero. His sacrifices – both physical, financial, and emotional were all fueled by his burning desire to make sure that his kid would grow up and have a better future. Each time I’d give him his salary, he’d talk about buying clothes or whatnot for his kid and it was really touching to see how much he passionately loved his family.

I only knew him four months, but I will miss him terribly. May he find peace and joy in the arms of our maker. I pray for comfort and kindness for his family and those that he left behind.

I’m currently raising funds that I can give to his family for financial assistance. If you feel like giving, please do let me know by sending me an e-mail at oplecarlo@gmail.com or sending me an SMS at +63918 804 00 55.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts