11:30 yesterday
|
He was born a second time. His life was saved by his wife, who at the last moment insisted that he leave their family residence in Demjata and come to spend the night in an apartment in Prešov. In a short time, the beautiful villa was reduced to ashes. No one knows the cause of what happened on the night of December 14 to 15 last year. The only thing that is certain is that former representative Stanislav Šesták and his immediate family lost their home in an instant.
Even today, it’s hard for the forty-year-old footballer to talk about it, but he can still look at the situation with different eyes than he did a month ago. “I keep repeating to myself that the most important thing is that nothing happened to any of us. It was a little short…” the participant of the world and European championships did not report.
Even after a few weeks, it is understandable that he cannot think about the disaster in mid-December with a cool head. “It was our home for ten years, but above all, a home. We had all our personal things there… I don’t even try to think about everything we lost. I want to take it on the positive side, because really, something much worse could have happened. The most important thing is that we stayed together as a family and nobody got hurt.” the native of Demjata explains in an interview for Šport.
Perhaps only the providence or the sixth sense of his wife caused him not to sleep in the house on the fateful night. He spent the whole day there, but late in the evening he moved to an apartment in Prešov.
“I left shortly after ten o’clock and at half past one I was already called to see if anyone was in the house, as it was on fire. I was an hour or two away from the fact that it could have turned out much, much worse. Even the first information from the investigators was that if I had slept in the house, I had no chance of surviving. I would inhale the fumes and it would be done. Even if it happened a day later, the whole family should have been sleeping there. However, none of us wants to think like this anymore…”
Photo gallery
A joint family photo by the Christmas tree in the house that was home to Stanislav Šesták, his wife Milka and their three children for a decade.
Source: SS Archive
When he left Demjata for the regional city, according to him, everything was completely fine. “You know it. When you live somewhere for years, the things you do become routine. Even then I did everything as I was used to. I was in the house all day from morning, I only went to one meeting. I came back in the afternoon and watched football. When I left, there was absolutely no indication that the house would not be there in a few hours. Nothing was different than ever before. I still have no idea what could have happened,” continues Šesták, who has not yet received the verdict of the investigators.
“Expert reports and analyzes are still awaited. They say there aren’t many options. I was told it was either a fault with the fireplace where the glass could have broken or the wiring failed. It will probably be clarified only after the report from the investigator. We didn’t have gas and everything else except the fireplace was turned off. I was like this all day, but also many times before.
At first, I kept asking myself: Why? How? Where? But then I thought it was pointless. I won’t affect it anymore. I don’t think there is a logical answer. We never noticed anything wrong with the house, we didn’t even suspect that something bad could happen. I don’t care at all what happened. But now I think that we are alive and can continue to function. It’s important.”
Photo gallery
A sad sight: the family residence of the Šestákovs stood at this place on the outskirts of Demjata.
Source: SS Archive
The house on the outskirts of Demjata was, understandably, insured by the Šestákovs. However, what no insurance policy can replace is personal belongings that were of great value to them lost forever.
“Emotionally, we don’t even have to talk about what we’ve lost. In essence, we are only gradually finding out what has burned down. It’s packing. I recently realized that I had all the memorabilia from my football career there, be it from the World Cup or the Euros. Then there is the practical side: we lost all documents, passports, birth certificates. The car remained in the garage intact, but the keys were burned.” says the former long-time Slovak representative, who, in addition to Slovakia, also worked in Germany, Turkey and Hungary.
The fire, reaching more than 1000 degrees Celsius in the epicenter, completely destroyed the house, and did not have time to spread to the surrounding area. “They burned about four tujas, but otherwise everything around looks the same as before. The guest house and garage at the back, as well as the carport at the front, remained intact. Sometimes, when I have to go there for something, I look at the whole thing and say to myself that it is a very sad sight. The neighborhood is somehow fine, but in the middle instead of a house it’s empty…”
Photo gallery
The Šesták family had a very nicely furnished interior, they had all their things in the house. Now they have to start practically all over again.
Source: SS Archive
He could not yet answer the question of whether he would find the inner strength in himself and with his loved ones to build a new family residence in the same – or another – place, in which he would feel good. “We have never dealt with anything like that before. We are currently in an apartment in Prešov. I can’t say whether my wife and I will deal with something in Demjata, whether we will leave it for the children, or whether we will sell it to completely cut ourselves off from it all.”
He doesn’t choose misfortune, but if he could choose a worse date, he probably wouldn’t make it. “My daughter turned seventeen on December 15, I turned forty on December 16. And it was a week before Christmas… It’s still unbelievable to me when I remember the phone call at night from the police. First of all, the question of whether someone is inside, whether there are any persons there. And then the sentence: Your house is on fire! I will never forget her in my life.”
They had already prepared Christmas presents for the children in the house. “We quickly built a tree in the apartment and got at least something for the children. As a family, this event locked us. We have much more in common than before,” says Šesták and adds: “We were in the apartment for practically the entire holidays. I didn’t like going out as it was still interesting to someone. When someone asked normally, it was fine, but others didn’t even say hello and were already spouting streams of questions. They were unpleasant situations. But we’re moving on, because the world hasn’t collapsed…”
Photo gallery
Stanislav Šesták, a former 66-time national team player, scored the last of his thirteen goals in the most valuable jersey against Belarus in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Source: TASR
HE WATCHED THE FINALE WITH HIS SON
Three days after the horror in Demjata, the FIFA World Cup in Qatar culminated in an epic final between Argentina and France. “I watched the whole championship. I was really looking forward to it, I thought that at least there would be something to watch during these winter months. Actually, even the last time I was at the house in Demjata, I watched the World Cup match…” you sighed.
Despite the fact that his head was in sadness, he did not miss the final of the Qatar tournament. “I watched it with my son. It was a great match, fantastic. A beautiful culmination of the entire championship. Before, I was disappointed that Brazil, which I favored, did not get past the Croatians. Sometimes it’s a little bit about luck. In the end, it turned out well and happily, like from an American movie, for Lionel Messi and his Argentina.” added Stanislav Šesták.
EVERYONE WANTED TO HELP
Many contacted him after the accident. “I got a lot of messages. It was probably uncomfortable for someone to write to me, but it was my birthday right away, so they contacted me. I myself wouldn’t know how to react if it happened to someone else around me. Friends, former coaches, teammates wrote and called. Everyone wanted to help, at least with encouraging words. Thanks to everyone,” said Stanislav Šesták.
