Tn’s note
When he was five years old, Juan Esteban Soto was discovered to have a brain tumor. The doctors gave him only two months to live, but despite his young age, he fought like a warrior and managed to survive for more than a year. Nine years have passed since that tragic date and his schoolmates never forgot it.
“Juani”, as everyone knew him, loved to tell jokes and dress up as a superhero. All the residents of Villa Valeria, a small town in the south of Córdoba, keep an anecdote with him in their hearts.
When the disease was discovered, the boy traveled more than 500 kilometers with his family to the capital Córdoba to undergo treatment, which was first with rays and then chemotherapy. The parents consulted with other doctors and even found out if there were other alternatives abroad. Despite the effort, Juani died in September 2013, when she was in first grade.
He always went to the José Croto school where he made many friends, the same ones who, almost 10 years after his death, remember him and honored him. “In each of those boys I see my son. I never told them because I didn’t want to make them sad. But seeing them walk through the town reminds me of Juani,” Romina, Juan Esteban’s mother, told TN.
The baby always had the dream of having a little brother, and his parents were able to fulfill it. “He always told me that he wanted a brother, because all of his schoolmates had one. I got pregnant and Juan Martín was born, so Juani was able to enjoy it for a year. She played with him and fed him, ”the woman recalled excitedly.
The memory and tribute of his schoolmates
A few days ago, her mother, her husband who left the mechanical workshop, her mother-in-law, and the mother of a friend of Juani’s arrived at Romina’s house. “They told me to come out and when I opened the door I found all of Juani’s classmates who gave me a T-shirt with his name on it. The boys are in their fifth year and are in the pre-promo. They surprised me and moved me because they continue to keep it in mind, ”she explained.
That scene was recorded and in the video you can see the affectionate hugs that each of the boys gave Romina. “Thank you so much. You know that I always tell your mother that I see Juan in each one of you. Thanks for this gift. You can’t imagine what this means to me. For you it’s nonsense, but you can’t imagine what it is for me. In each of you I see Juani, but I pretend not to see you. Thank you ”, these were the words of the woman as she tearfully melted into each teenager.
In Juani’s house his physical absence is felt, but he is present in the memory of his brothers Juan Martín, Juan Agustín and Indiana, in that of his parents, and in that of his schoolmates who had this noble gesture and honor him with a smile.
