ALMOST a year to the plane crash in which two people lost their lives, the Boy family is sitting with many unanswered questions.
The parents of 21-year-old Byron John Boy, who was travelling in the Cessna 182 on June 21, still need to know what the circumstances were surrounding their family’s tragic loss.
The aircraft, which was believed to be piloted by Arwyp cardiologist, Dr Vladimir Grigorov, crashed in Germiston on its way to Kriel, Mpumalanga. Boy and Herculina Magdalina du Plessis, who was believed to be a nurse working with Grigorov, both lost their lives. Raymond Craig and Grigorov survived the accident.
“We only found out about the accident 24 hours later via a WhatsApp message – not the police, aviation, reporters, Ekurhuleni Emergency Services, mortuary or surviving family members bothered to contact us telephonically or via email. We were deeply saddened by the manner in which South Africa handled this when a life had been taken,” wrote Boys’ parents, John and Charmaine Boy of Singapore.
The couple had to arrange for a close family friend to identify the body of their son who had been working as an IT technician with Grigorov. They flew into the country to have his memorial services on June 27 and 28 in Johannnesburg and Ramsgate respectively.
“This was a very difficult time for us as a family due to us having to get back to South Africa for Byron’s memorials, one in Randburg and the other in our home in Ramsgate, Kwa-Zulu Natal, where he grew up. We scattered his ashes privately with the family at Southbroom Beach,” they added.
The couple stayed in South Africa for three days before having to rush to Asia where Byron’s older sister, Stacey-Lee, was getting married 10 days later in Bali. She held a special butterfly release ceremony in memory of her younger brother.
“It has been nearly a year now and we as a family still have have no closure, as we are awaiting the aviation investigation report, which we have been told could take between one and five years to complete. “Someone kindly came through to me and said he was an eyewitness when the Cessna 182 crashed. He held our son’s hand and prayed for him until the angels came to take him. We felt very grateful to this anonymous person for his kindness. Unfortunately this accident haunts him every day of his life,” they continued.
The family moved to Asia in 2008 after an incident which prompted them to take the decision to relocate. Byron continued school in Singapore and then continued onto an IT College. The family took a joint decision for him to go back to South Africa in July 2012.
“Byron was quite sickly as a baby, turning out to be a very adventurous, energetic, hyperactive toddler and was assessed with ADHD. Although he had a few set-backs in life, each hurdle we overcame with him was a great achievement, which probably made us love him more.
“Byron had only one sister, Stacey-Lee, who was three and a half years older than him, and they had a very strong bond. Sometimes, I felt she was almost taking motherhood away from me, as she tended to be very bossy and overprotective over him. He looked up to her and loved his sister dearly,” recalled his mother.
The couple recall many candid moments with their son and in particular when he was about seven years old.
“He always loved music and fell in love with Nelly Furtado’s song, I’m like a Bird, and told us that he wanted to come back to life as a bird. Coincidentally, there always seems to be one bird in our lives.
“A swallow swooped down at the butterfly release during our daughter’s wedding and there always seems to be one hawk flying around our condo and in a lot of my daughter’s recent overseas photos, there is one bird. We still feel his presence very close to us.
“Byron was our baby boy gone too soon, whereby his life had hardly started. We as a family sure miss him so much and will never stop thinking about him every day of our lives. We still light a candle for him every night,” they ended.
