ANYONE KNOW OR HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT EDDIE PLEASE CONTACT Mrs. CLARKJo Gibson Clark, the mother of Eddie Gibson, who went missing in Cambodia at the age of 19, talks about her four years of anguish
Hannah Pool
The Guardian
Thursday March 13 2008
Tell me about your son Eddie's disappearance?
Eddie went to Cambodia on October 9 2004. He had gone there to have a quiet holiday after having a change of heart about going to university. It was a place where he liked the people and felt he could rest and think about what he was going to do for the rest of his life.
While he was there he met a young Cambodian girl. Her father died and Eddie paid for the funeral; he was due to come home just afterwards, but he never got on the flight.
When did you last hear from him?
I was in contact with him until October 24, when he sent us his last email, saying, "I'm coming home on the first of November. I'm really looking forward to seeing you. Love you - you're the best mum in the world." We went to the airport and he wasn't on that flight. For the first few days I kept thinking he'd be on the next flight, and then the days went by and after three or four days I thought, "This isn't right - something's happened here."
I thought maybe he had had an accident.
I was phoning all the Cambodian hospitals, and of course there's a massive language barrier, and also the time difference, and it was just horrendous.
We tried to do as much as we possibly could and in the end we felt we weren't getting anywhere, so Eddie's father and my eldest son went out to Cambodia and spoke to the British consulate.
They were kind, but there's only four staff there, so there was very little they could do. They couldn't take up an investigation.
Three and a half years down the line, we still don't know what's happened to Ed. There's lots of speculation that the Cambodian girl and her family could have done something with Ed because he had money on him, but you can't go round just blaming people without facts. The Cambodian police say they are carrying out an investigation, but at the end of the day, unless we are actually there and can bang on their doors the whole time, nothing gets done.
What does a child's disappearance do to a parent?
It tears you inside out. I've got a broken heart. You don't know what a broken heart does. You just live with it because there is no alternative. I've got other children, but Ed's my little boy - it's just really, really sad.
How has it changed you?
Before this happened, I didn't think about that dark side, that anything bad could happen, because it happens to other people. But we're normal, average people, and it's happened to us, and it sticks you in a dark hole. I've become a lot more cynical than I ever was, which is not a nice place to be. I don't trust people - you become a little bit aggressive, a little bit angry with everything.
Does the fact that he disappeared in a foreign country make things worse?
When Eddie first went missing, I tried to get guidance as to what to do because we were just thrown into this terrible panic. We couldn't find out any information whatsoever - we were like headless chickens, running around in a frantic state. Kids no longer want to go to Europe or Australia - they want to go to the far east - but these are really dangerous countries, because if something does go wrong, there is nobody who will help you, no official body. It's a nightmare.
Every day we hope we're going to get some information as to what's happened to Eddie. Where is he? I want information and a proper investigation. If something bad has happened to Ed and he's not here any longer, I want to know what's happened, rather than just to live constantly, every single day, with not knowing. I'm not necessarily looking for justice; I just want peace of mind.
Do you have any advice for any other parents who might be going through the same thing?
Don't look into the future too much, don't think about life going on for ever without your child, just take each day as it goes. I always say I was lucky to have Eddie for 19 years. He was a gorgeous boy. Life's not for ever, and some of us are planned to leave before the others.
No comments:
Post a Comment