In the blink of an eye she was taken away from us.
Years of compassion, dedication, courage gone. Two little children denied of a wonderful mum, her husband of a cheerful, compassionate partner.
Why is it that the impact of the death of certain people is so much more profound?
I did not know Jo Cox. Frankly, before the horrific news of her death, I had only briefly heard of her. And yet, I was overwhelmed by unimaginable grief, followed by extreme anger.
I broke down in unison with the LBC Radio presenter, when he read out the message from Jo’s husband. Never had I heard a British radio presenter break down live on air in such a way. Never have I felt so angry about politicians and sections of the media.
They are partly to blame for Jo’s brutal murder. The media’s deliberately hateful, misleading coverage of the EU Referendum has surely reinforced the hatred the killer festered.
Farage’s disgraceful demonising of refugees and migrants, branding them all as rapists.
Mostly Tory Brexiter MPs’ lies and scare tactics about the imminent arrival of millions of more migrants on Britain’s shores.
They all played their part.
Seeing the headlines of papers, shedding crocodile tears for Jo on Friday, listening to the arrogant voice of that radio presenter was the last straw.
Months on end the Mail, The Sun, the Express, and various radio presenters had fuelled the fires of hatred. On Friday they were expressing sorrow about Jo’s murder.
I had to struggle to keep the contents of my breakfast in my stomach. I shed tears of sorrow, anger, and frustration in equal measure.
Hungrily, I read all that the papers said about Jo. I still am. The more I read about this amazing woman, the more my admiration for her grows.
She was a beacon of light in these sinister, hateful days. A beacon of courage, dedication and compassion.
Jo’s last words in response to her assistant’s pleas for her to get up were: “I can’t. My pain is too much.”
The collective pain we decent human beings feel is also too much Jo.
Your inspiration will continue to guide us to fight against forces of evil and hatred.
T-VINE columnist Ertanch Hidayettin is a Cypriot Turk of African heritage who came to the UK in 1970. A qualified teacher he chose to pursue a career in local government, working for local authorities in a variety of posts including as an Equality Officer for Islington Council, before retiring in 2007. Since then he has worked with the National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education (NRCSE). He is a community activist and a commentator in Turkish and Cypriot media.
