‘One Reckless Driver And Our Dreams Are Over’: Family Of Filipino Motorcyclist Devastated After Fatal Paola Accident
It was about 4am in the city of Antipolo in the Rizal Province of the Philippines when Bryan Lopez found out his dad had been killed in a traffic accident in the town of Paola, Malta.
Along with his mom and three other siblings, they hugged and cried together, wondering how their hard-working father, Edwin Lopez, had suddenly lost his life while working on the other side of the world. He was, after all, a very experienced driver, having been working in that industry for over a decade.
“We loved our dad because he’s very responsible for what our family needs and was always a loyal friend,” Bryan told Lovin Malta via video call from his home in Antipolo. “He’s the one and only to prove to his family to never ever lose hope until you succeed.”
The Lopez family
Surrounded by the grieving Lopez family, Bryan and his mother are still not exactly sure what happened.
Bryan has changed his Facebook profile picture black as he mourns his beloved father, and the family have thanked the many people on the island for their kind words at this difficult moment… but they still seek closure.
Edwin Lopez
They know that a 37-year-old man from Paola had a collision with Edwin as he was driving on his motorcycle.
But that’s it – they don’t know the name of the person, nor what happened prior to the collision.
They are appealing to the driver, the family of the driver and anyone in Malta who may have information on what happened. Without closure, their minds race around endless possibilities on the last moments of Edwin’s life.
They were left especially shocked to see how little information was available to them, even though they had just lost a family member, and are heartbroken there is no CCTV footage showing the moment of collision. They believe they should be compensated for the loss to their family as Edwin was the breadwinner of the home.
Edwin and his wife, Vilma, in happier days
Edwin had dreamed of working as a trailer or bus driver in Malta.
Described as an experienced driver who has worked on roads all over the world, including Dubai and Saudi Arabia, the family found it hard to accept he had lost his life on the roads.
Edwin and colleagues in one of his jobs around the world
“But now we’ve encountered a reckless driver who drove the Land Rover and it is over for his life and our dreams,” Bryan said. “He was our hope, our source, the one to think of our needs and feed his family. We can’t go on by ourselves, we need him. But now all our dreams are doomed.”
Edwin had left his family around eight years ago, working to provide a living to his family. He had been in Malta for about two and a half years and had obtained his dream job of working as a bus driver in Malta, though he had left the role over the last year.
His family sending him a happy birthday message
Maltese authorities said investigations into the death are continuing, and the family now await to see if and how they’ll be able to bring their father’s body back home.
“We hope his bike will be sent to the Philippines as well – his dream was always to have a bike of that type so very precious to him,” Bryan said. “And to have a chance to make memories on that bike would be a great symbol to us.”
The family had never visited Malta but had always hoped to, though money problems and the recent COVID-19 pandemic made things even harder.
However, with the pillar of the family now dead, the family are now focused on getting answers and finding a way out of this tragedy sent to them from the other side of the world.
The scene of the accident
The Lopez family is collecting donations to transport Edwin’s body back home and to bury it.
If you would like to donate, you can send a donation via Paypal to:
Name: Bryan Austin S. Lopez
Email: [email protected]
Or via bank transfer to:
IBAN: EWBCPHMM200023183284
Have you been affected by this story? Speak to us in confidence at [email protected].
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