A second chance at life

Every day when I awake I thank God for another day. My friend Celia Crisostomo thanks God for her husband Bernie’s second chance at life.

I know of an accident where a friend was crushed under a trailer and survived with but a facial scar to prove it.

I’ve heard of a child squeezed between two vehicles who has lived to forget the accident because the guardian angels were standing by, as they do always, whether it’s "our time" or not.

Many widows lament that they never imagined they would be wearing black or white too soon in life... truly, only God knows the time of day when... Today and prayerfully for a long time hereafter, Celia will be wearing reds, yellows and all the colors imaginable.

Upon my prodding, Celia consented to a short writeup on an experience she never ever wants to go through again.

* * *

Here is Celia’s story:

Around 6:30 a.m., I received a phone call. "Where’s Bernie? What time is his flight? Is he bound for Laoag or Batanes?"

Caught unaware, she replied – "Why are you asking me all these questions? Tell me, what’s happened?" I refused to believe anything was amiss but I rushed to the church finding myself confused and in denial. It’s not true... I don’t want to believe anything’s wrong. There’s misinformation somewhere, but I was crying. I questioned God. Then I regretted having done that a fraction of a second after.

Around 7:15 a.m, when I was queueing up for holy communion, one of my neighbors approached me. She was crying – "Ma’am, patay na si Sir Bernie. Nag-crash yung eroplano niya." I was shocked and hurriedly went home. Five minutes away from my house, from afar, I saw all my neighbors crying. Sinalubong nila ako nang nag-iiyakan sila. Only then did I say to myself – Totoo na ito, wala na si Bernie. I cried so hard and wondered what I should do.

When I went inside my house, our maid innocently informed me, "Ma’am, tumawag po si Sir Bernie..."

"Tumawag si Bernie? Huwag mo akong bibiruin. Totoo bang tumawag siya? Naku baka kaluluwa na lang ni Bernie yon..." A few minutes later Bernie did call me to tell me not to worry but I knew for sure that an accident of that nature would cause him a lifetime trauma.

* * *

Days passed. The news has subsided but the alternating feelings of hurt and relief exhaust Celia. "Until now, I’m feeling very bad about Bernie’s sadness...and the accusation against him. Yeah, he’s alive, but with the accusations, he’s being killed slowly... being buried alive. My husband is also a victim. What happened was beyond his control."

Searching for the truth, Celia asked to see the actual footage taken by an amateur video bug where she noticed smoke emitting before the engine stopped. "Smoke on the engine indicates engine trouble. Could it be due to the age of the plane, aircraft fatigue or fuel contamination?" She asked over and over again. She answered her own query, "If the smoke was due to fuel starvation, there should be no smoke." As a pilot’s wife Celia learned through the years that it can be assumed that if there’s no fuel problem, there should be no combustion, therefore, there should be no smoke.

Celia wants to clarify. "Every aircraft has standardized checklists for pilots and maintenance mechanics. So, the pilot’s checklist is different from the maintenance mechanic’s checklist. The fuel switches on this particular aircraft are located on the right side of the plane on the co-pilot’s side, so they are far from the captain... Those who know the technicalities of all this will fully understand."

* * *

At most we’re friends of Bernie. He’s the type of person who’s very particular about the procedures, rules and policies. He knows his passengers’ lives are in his hands... not to mention his own children’s, his wife’s and his own.

He doesn’t want to talk about his efforts at saving his passengers and crew. It was his duty anyway. The only thing he said was, "When I was able to get out out of the cockpit window, since the cockpit door was stuck and locked, I went back to the plane to forcibly open the emergency exit so the passengers could get out of the plane." That’s why his right hand was wounded. Bernie has been feeling very, very sorry for he was not able to save everybody. He has been agonizing over it, even bursting into tears. A consolation is that "... one of the foreign passengers thanked my husband and said that if Bernie had landed the plane any other way, everybody could have been killed."

The Crisostomo family prays that the credentials of the newly formed fact-finding body are up to date on the latest techniques in accident investigation. The children question their dad, "Pappy, bakit nahulog ka sa dagat? Bakit naputol ang eroplano mo? Sabi ng kaklase ko..." Peer interrogation follow their children’s attempt at defending their dad, too.

* * *

Celia adds, "Yesterday I died a little bit again when I read, ‘Kapabayaan, nalimutan ng piloto buksan ang switches...blah-blah-blah.’" Will the investigators be swayed by the media assessment? "Sana judgments are left to the committee as we pray and pray." Amen, Celia.

* * *

Like many wives, Celia will always be by their husband’s side. It’s not just about a gold ring but about commitments symbolized by a circle, a beginning with no end.

Here’s the legend of the wedding band:

"In Biblical times, a certain young king married a princess from a neighboring country. Soon after their marriage, it became necessary for the king to leave his young wife and lead his armies into battle. One night before he left, the king was walking in the palace gardens. He stood beside the moon-drenched pool tossing pebbles into the water and watching the circles form, ‘How like a circle is my love for her,’ he thought. ‘It, too, has no beginning and no ending!’ The next day he called in his goldsmith and directed him to make a gold circle to fit the queen’s finger. When the king slipped the finish ring on his wife’s finger, he told her, ‘This circle, which has no beginning and no ending, is a pledge of my love for you, which is also eternal.’

"And down through the ages, the gold circle has sealed the vows of marriage and symbolized the purity and the endlessness of love."