20th of March 1988
“I was with the boys’ team, but also with the girls’ team led by Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang. There were also the girls from the rhythm section. Together with the coaches, we decided to go shopping with the girls. Tavi and I went to a bank where we took out some money, I had in my bag part of the gymnasts’ daily allowance and the plane tickets, some documents…
We headed to a mall, where the prices seemed a bit steep. I parted with Tavi and Mariana. I had it in my head to buy a present for my daughter. When I came out of the mall, two kids came up to me. One of them had a gun pointed at me. They asked me to give them the bag. I refused. There was a scuffle and the one with the gun pulled the trigger. He fired one shot. The bullet that changed my fate!”. He made one last effort and managed to pull the money bag to his chest. She fell on it, so the two ran away without the girls’ allowance.
He was rushed to the hospital and underwent several operations. Without success. The bullet had “bitten” into his spine and lungs. Doctors belatedly told him he would be paralyzed for life, from the waist down. Any treatment was doomed to failure. Even a STEM cell transplant was tried. An operation he had in 2008 in China. “I died then, in Caracas. I woke up two days later from a coma, but I’m not the same man!” His attackers were never caught.
Toma Prădatu (77), former deputy secretary of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation lived in a wheelchair ever since.
On December 16th, he wrote presciently that “my time has come.” He died today, the 18th of December, with modesty, humbleness, and sorrow in his heart.
Sursa Foto: Adevarul, Libertatea
