The last will of Daniel Gonzalez It defines him better than any explanation. He died on October 17 from pancreatic cancer and, before leaving, he launched the campaign «A smile that lights up the world», with which he asked that, upon his death, no one spend money on flowers or other types of tributes, and that he donate those funds to the Pancreatic Cancer Association ACAPAN to contribute to treatment research. Its objective: “That, in this way, in the future, a diagnosis of this disease does not become a sentence, but rather a fight for life.”
He left it in writing and conveyed it to all the people he said goodbye to. For two years, he fought tirelessly and optimistically and, when he knew that there was nothing more to do, he began the ritual of farewell to him. “He received his friends every day, said goodbye, encouraged everyone and told them that they had to be happy, change their way of thinking,” says his father. José Manuel Gonzálezwho at 64 years old has had to bury a 36-year-old son. He wants to move forward – “I promised my son” – but he continues looking for how to do it.
Daniel’s strength “gave us all a lesson, in courage, in maturity,” the last one a few days before he died. He was already admitted to Santiago de Compostela to receive treatment for “increasingly greater” pain and there came a time when “it was impossible to live like this,” and then he made a decision. She asked to go out one day and have her pain controlled and moved to The Guard, His town. “He said goodbye to the places he liked the most, he took a bath where he bathed as a child with his mother and his aunts and organized a meal with friends and family, he said goodbye to everyone.” He gathered 40 people, 10 more for dessert, and, upon returning to the hospital, he said goodbye.
His father remembers him through tears. «He told the doctor: “I already did what I had to do, I’m happy, you can start sedating me now.” And six days later, he passed away, leaving behind an unforgettable legacy. He asked his father: “I want you to be happy, to live what you couldn’t live.” And he showed her unwavering optimism: “Every time I went to treatment, I was happy because I had hope,” he remembers.
Miguel Angel Oterothe president of Gaelic football club Keltoi of Vigo, in which Daniel played almost until his last breath, confesses that he was surprised by this optimism: “He was aware that the fight was difficult, but at all times he remained hopeful of moving forward.” Also his perseverance: “he was weak from the chemotherapy and, even so, if he missed it it was because it hurt a lot.” Whenever he could, he played. “He told us: I will play for a couple of minutes, but I want to stay active.”