LOVE FROM BARCELONA
Soccer heroes reach out to family of Vancouver man killed in deadly attack
Meeting sports heroes is a dream shared by many kids.
Vancouver’s Duncan Bates, 14, got to meet his FC Barcelona soccer heroes Friday.
But the meeting with the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez was a small moment of joy in what’s been a difficult August for the teen and his family.
Duncan lost his 75-year-old grandfather Ian Moore Wilson in the Aug. 17 terrorist attack in Barcelona. His grandmother Valerie Wilson was injured and only just released from hospital.
Duncan, his father Robert and his grandparents had travelled to the Spanish city for a soccer camp run by the world-famous club.
They’d only just arrived when the attack occurred (the camp was scheduled for Aug. 21-25). The plan was for the four to go for a walk, but Robert and Duncan decided to pay a visit to the beach instead of heading to Las Ramblas — Barcelona’s popular shopping street — with the Wilsons.
They were to meet up again at 5 p.m. at the apartment they’d rented for their stay.
Five minutes before they were to reunite, a terrorist drove a van through the crowds on Las Ramblas. The Wilsons were among those struck by the van during the attack that left 14 dead and 130 hurt.
As news spread quickly around the world, Wilson’s daughter Fiona — a staff sergeant with the Vancouver police — caught wind of a bulletin about the attack at work.
“I knew they were staying at an apartment at Las Ramblas,” she said Tuesday from Barcelona. “I immediately started panicking.”
She was able to get hold of Robert shortly after, who said he and their son were all right, but he couldn’t locate her parents.
After about seven hours of searching, Robert found Valerie in a local hospital.
“Some really phenomenal people,” Fiona said of the locals who helped Robert in his search.
At one point Fiona said she saw her parents in a news clip of the aftermath, lying on the ground together.
She tracked down a journalist in Barcelona and asked him about the image and the condition of her parents.
Around 3 a.m. Pacific Time, the journalist called back and told her what she had been dreading to hear: “I’m certain your dad is dead.”
He said he had another photo that showed a body lying in the same spot, but now covered up.
Hours later, as Fiona waited at Vancouver International Airport with her husband Skigh Murray to begin the long trek to join her family, she got official confirmation about her father. Reuniting with her son and his dad was an emotional experience, she said.
Fiona and Robert separated when their children were young, but remained good friends.
For many years, Fiona and her children lived with her parents.
“We are a very, very close family,” she said.
In Barcelona, Fiona said the family has found nothing but kindness.
“Since we’ve been here, we’ve just experienced this incredible, extraordinary outpouring of love — not just from back home and from the VPD — but from (the people of ) Barcelona and Catalonia.”
The family decided that what Duncan’s grandfather would want for him would be to carry on with the soccer camp.
“There was no doubt in any of our minds that his grandfather would want him to do that,” Wilson said. “He would have been horrified if (Duncan) had missed this camp.” And so Duncan went to camp. When the coaches learned what Duncan had gone through in the days prior, his story was passed along to the coaches and players of the professional team.
A meeting was arranged and Friday, at the end of camp, Duncan met his heroes.
The team, including superstars Messi and Suarez, took time to greet him and his dad and take photos.
“They seemed so moved by what had happened,” said Fiona, adding Duncan got to meet his No. 1 hero, Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic.
“FC Barcelona has been so generous to our family. They literally helped salvage some of this disastrous trip for our son and for that we are so grateful.”
The family has been able to attend some Barcelona games as well.
Valerie won’t be able to travel for another week, so the family has spent a lot of time talking about Ian.
“What we’ve been talking about in the last couple of days are really the fond memories of my dad,” Fiona said. “We’ve been trying to remember the good things about him. He was an extraordinary man.”
He worked for IBM for years, mostly handling the company’s account with B.C. Hydro.
“My dad was a humble, generous and gracious man,” said Fiona, adding Ian and Duncan “were very close.”
“It’s been very, very difficult for Duncan.”