Wanderlei Silva and father Holando in Curitiba earlier this year / Photo taken from internet
At around 5 pm last Sunday, Holando Silva, 63, died in a powerful collision on a stretch of highway PR 090 in Castro, 156 km outside of Curitiba, Brazil. A few hours later his family telephoned his son Wanderlei in Las Vegas to inform him of the tragedy.
Holando was driving a Ford F-1000 and hit a Corsa head on. The two drivers died on impact, and the force of the collision was such that it totaled the pickup truck and sent it into a ravine. Three other people, including two children, were injured.
Holando was returning to his home in the Abapan District, where he had lived happily for the last nine years after retiring from running the bar at which Wand worked as a young man.
The UFC and Pride FC star arrived in Brazil early morning on Tuesday for the wake and burial at Abapan Cemetery, near the site of the accident. Wand was welcomed by hordes of fans and onlookers, thanked them and spoke in tribute to his father: “He was my hero,” he is reported as saying on the Portal Ponta Grossa website.
In the GRACIEMAG.com comments section, one reader provided a synthesis of the sentiments of his fans: “Wand, again it is time for you to show that you’re stronger than life!”
The GRACIEMAG team sends its heartfelt condolences to the black belt and his family.
The post Wanderlei Silva’s homage to father at wake: “He was my hero” first appeared on Graciemag.