When Samantha from Breda waved goodbye to her 21-year-old brother Angelo for his holiday with friends to Spain, she never expected that this would be the last time she would see him. “I expected him back on my couch in a few days.”
It is a beautiful, warm summer evening in 2024. To cool down a bit, Samantha and her family want to play in the swimming pool that is set up in their garden. When the doorbell rings, Samantha’s nine-year-old daughter opens the door. “Mom, a friend of Angelo is at the door,” she calls to her mother.
Angelo is Samantha’s little brother. Even though Samantha was sixteen when he was born, their bond has always been strong. “Our mother died of cancer when Angelo was only nine years old. He had four big sisters, all of whom took care of him. I lived around the corner from our parental home, so Angelo only had to walk down the street and he was on our doorstep.”
“I mainly thought: let him enjoy himself with his friends. He will be back home in a few days.”
He regularly sleeps with his big sister, plays with his niece and nephew or curls up behind the Playstation at Samantha’s house. Angelo is in the middle of life. He works hard, enjoys time with his family and enjoys going out with his groups of friends.
“Angelo had a large circle of friends. He had several groups of friends that he often saw: in Bavel, Hoge Vught and another in Molenschot. Even though Angelo himself lived in Breda-Noord, he always got on his bike to be with his friends.”
And Angelo also finds a warm home with his friends. “He was always allowed to sleep over, because otherwise he would have to cycle so far after going out. A warm bed and a toothbrush were always ready.”
In the summer of 2024, Angelo will go on holiday with the group of friends from Bavel. “Angelo was a lot, but not really organized,” Samantha says with a laugh. “The day before he was going to board the plane, he texted me if I had a suitcase for him. He only realized at the last minute that he didn’t have one.”
Samantha takes her daughter’s little pink suitcase from the attic. And that he went on holiday with his friends with a children’s suitcase? That didn’t matter to Angelo at all. “His things could come with him, that was the most important thing.”
She waves goodbye to her little brother and he leaves. “During the holidays we were in touch via WhatsApp, but I mainly thought: let him enjoy himself with his friends. He will be back home in a few days.”
But during the holidays, Samantha receives a visit from a friend of Angelo. She can immediately see from his face that something is wrong. “I saw that he had to tell me something, but it just didn’t work,” says Samantha. Finally he gets the words out of his mouth: Angelo has died.
He had received a call from Spain and it was up to him to pass on the terrible news to the family. “All you know is that Angelo is gone, but you don’t want to believe that.”
“We had to tell him that the only thing he had left was lost.”
Samantha walks with her sister to their stepfather. “Even though he only lived a few blocks away, this felt like the longest journey of my life. We had to tell him that he had lost the only thing he had left.”
Eventually the family gets in touch with Angelo’s friends, with whom he was on holiday in Spain. “The boys were standing outside their rented villa in Mallorca. We spoke to a very sweet friend of Angelo’s. He was the one who found him.”
He talks about the night before, when the friends went out in Mallorca. It was a pleasant evening. Angelo had jumped into the shower after going out.
While the rest of the boys had already gone to bed, Angelo stopped coming out of the bathroom. “They weren’t surprised. Angelo also fell asleep in an empty bath during a holiday. They just went to sleep.”
“My brother went on vacation and never came back.”
In the morning, Angelo’s friend found him. At first he thought Angelo was asleep, but he soon realized that something was wrong. “He resuscitated Angelo, but to no avail.”
Angelo had already died from carbon monoxide poisoning. “My brother went on holiday and never came back. That’s not something you just give up.”
It is now a year and a half after Angelo’s death, but the family is still in the midst of loss. For example, there is still a lawsuit against the landlord of the villa, because the carbon monoxide poisoning turned out to be the result of overdue maintenance. A bird’s nest in the gas discharge prevented the toxic substances from escaping.
“You were assured of a good time if Angelo was there,” says one of his friends during the funeral. “The morning we went on holiday and we saw Angelo arrive in his pink sweater and with his pink suitcase, we knew it was going to be a beautiful week.”
Together with the friends who loved Angelo and her family, Samantha now keeps Angelo close. They often get together, drink a beer in his favorite pub or eat a bag of paprika chips together. His favorite flavor.
“His friends really carry Angelo with them,” she says. “They often come by to kick a ball with my son, just like my brother liked to do. They are a part of Angelo, just like us. This is how we keep him alive.”
And while the days pass, but Angelo may never grow older than 21 years old, Samantha has one wish above all: that her little, sweet, beautiful, funny and strong brother will never be forgotten. “He was a special boy. And even though he is no longer here, I still get to know him every day. Angelo will remain in our hearts forever.”
On the day everyone said goodbye to Angelo, his friends said the words that Samantha continues to hold on to: “Let his life be a beautiful memory, instead of one to cry about.”
