DAVAO del Norte’s Elias Tabac’s joy of bagging the championship in the just-concluded Spartan East Asia Regional Series 2019 Hong Kong Beast Elite Division race turned to grief upon learning of his 11-month-old daughter Chloe’s sudden death.
The 25-year-old, who hails from Bayugan in Agusan del Sur, took to Facebook on November 10 and posted, “Nak panalo ako pero hindi mo na makita yong picture ni Papa. Ang saya-saya mo tuwing tumitingin sa mga pictures ko pag nananalo ako.”
He went on saying, “Mahirap tanggapin yong mga pangyayari pero kailangan talaga i-accept kasi tapos na. Nak, sana gabayan mo kami palagi sa bawat tahak ng buhay namin ng mama mo at kapatid mo.”
Tabac, who is currently a government employee in the Provincial Government of Davao del Norte, said the death was too sudden that it came as a shock to him and to the rest of the family.
When interviewed by SunStar via Facebook on November 10, he said, “Kalit lang Ma’am ni kumbulsyon lang daw tapos gidala sa hospital sa Tagum, kadali rapud wala na dayon (She reportedly had a convulsion and then was rushed to a Tagum hospital but she still passed away).”
He said his daughter was well and was not sick before he left for the race.
Tabac ruled the full course by clocking a total of two hours, five minutes and 32 seconds, outlasting Byungseok Song of Chai Wan, Hong Kong (2:16:04), Roy Ng of Hong Kong (2:19:02), Oleksii Melynk (2:20:59) of Hong Kong, Johnny Tieu of Brooklyn, New York (2:22:08) and Chris Davis of Hong Kong (2:23:17).