The 8-year-old Maria continues to battle physical and psychological trauma after the fatal hit-and-run that occurred on Friday on the coastal road of Patras, when 86-year-old Titika Vasilopoulou sacrificed her life to save her. The unfortunate woman stepped in front of the child when the motorcycle driver, according to witnesses, started at breakneck speed before the light turned green and struck her, resulting in her instant death. The little girl and the driver were injured and taken to the hospital, while Maria describes heartbreakingly to her father what she saw, trying to understand if it was all a dream.
Patras: “Daddy, maybe it’s a dream and I’ll wake up,” says the 8-year-old
“When I asked Maria yesterday, ‘Maria, what did you see, what did you understand?’ She told me, ‘Daddy, I saw a motorcycle like yours, white,’ obviously the child saw the colors, the light, and then a loud noise and then I don’t remember anything else, I fell down daddy, and she continues and says the same thing, ‘Daddy, maybe it’s a dream and I’ll wake up,'” the 8-year-old’s father said.
The 8-year-old Maria continues to struggle with the physical and psychological trauma left by the fatal hit-and-run on Friday on the coastal road of Patras.
She survived because she had a guardian angel in 86-year-old Titika. The grandmother who sacrificed her life, became a shield for her by pushing her to the sidewalk and died instantly. The minor and the motorcycle driver were injured and taken to the hospital.
“She keeps asking about grandma Titika, where is grandma, of course we haven’t told her that grandma didn’t make it because my Maria is sensitive,” continued Mr. George Kostouros, little Maria’s father.
The unfortunate woman was not a relative but a neighbor of the family. She was the neighborhood grandmother, had earned everyone’s trust and used to take the children for walks.
They leave flowers in her memory
At the entrance of her house, some white flowers in her memory. In the house of grandma Titika, the heroic woman who gave her life so that the 8-year-old girl could be saved here in the neighborhood, the grief is immense.
The 8-year-old Maria is undergoing tests and will need medical care to be able to heal her little arm. For the second day, the 8-year-old girl remains at Karamandaneio hospital with fractures in many parts of her body.
“I expect him to be imprisoned,” says the 8-year-old’s father
Shocked, the 8-year-old’s father demands exemplary punishment for the motorcycle driver.
“A 46-year-old man with a motorcycle of such engine capacity who left from Athens, came to Patras, removed the rear license plate from the motorcycle, runs the red light, develops speed, hits my child and doesn’t care, doesn’t make a phone call to see if the child is okay, I expect him to be imprisoned tomorrow,” emphasized Mr. Kostouros.
Criminal felony charges were filed against the 46-year-old driver and tomorrow he will give his testimony to the Investigator. On Tuesday morning, the funeral of 86-year-old Titika, the grandmother who always had open arms for all children.
