Brilio.net - Bandung musician and comedian Joehana Sutisna alias Joe P Project is in deep sorrow. A series of sad events befell the man known for his unique sense of humor.
It started with the passing of his eldest son, Edge Thariq alias Gege, last May. Gege died of complications from diabetes at a relatively young age, 27 years old.
Before Joe could recover from the loss of his child, disaster struck again. His house in the Margahayu area, Bandung, was destroyed by fire due to an electrical short circuit from a cellphone charger.
Joe revealed the chronology of the beginning of his son's illness. He told how the doctor's diagnosis led to the discovery of very high blood sugar levels.
Gege's health condition, which initially only had symptoms of GERD, turned out to be more serious. Further examination revealed quite severe diabetes.
"The origin of GERD, the doctor's diagnosis was diabetes up to 500," said Joe on the Pagi Pagi Ambyar Trans TV show, quoted by brilio.net on Thursday (26/9).
photo: Instagram/@iszur_muchtar
Gege's passing was certainly a heavy blow for Joe and his family. Moreover, Gege, who was known as an introvert, was often his father's best friend in various activities.
Joe reminisces about the precious moments he spent with his son. The two shared the same hobbies, especially in music and motorcycle riding.
"We rode motorbikes together, rode to Pangandaran, played music together, several times my son played additional guitar in my band too," Joe recalled.
Four months after Gege's departure, another disaster struck Joe's family. This time, the house he and his wife lived in was destroyed by fire .
The cause of the fire turned out to be a trivial thing that often happens in homes. Joe explained that the fire came from a cellphone charger that was continuously plugged into the socket even though it was not being used.
"There was a fire a week ago. So the charger kept plugging in, even though the cellphone was no longer there, so electricity kept flowing," said Joe.
Joe then recounted the terrifying moments when the fire broke out. He described how the situation changed drastically in a matter of minutes.
Despite the critical situation, Joe is grateful that there were no fatalities in the incident. He is also relieved that the fire did not spread to neighboring houses.
photo: TikTok/@kapanlagicom
"The incident happened near dusk, my wife was screaming but the fire was already big, I ran upstairs, it was already very hot. I just gave up on what happened. Everything was destroyed instantly, I didn't think about anything at that time, the important thing was to be safe and not spread the fire to the neighbors. There were no injuries, but I was short of breath," he added.
However, Joe responded to the house fire disaster with a fairly calm attitude. He felt that losing his house was not too hard compared to losing his child a few months ago.
"(The house burned down) I can be stronger, because my most beautiful possession was taken 4 months ago. This possession (the house burned down) is nothing, after my child died I lived like 'oh what's the point?', but God is the greatest," said Joe resignedly.
Joe said that the loss of Gege's passing was far more painful than the loss of possessions. He even considered the fire as a form of "healing" from the grief he still felt.
The actor admitted that he had resigned himself to everything that happened to him through a series of disasters. For him, the house fire disaster was a healing for him.
"When I remember that (the child died), oh the house burned down, this fire was not a trial but I consider it healing for me," said Joe.
photo: Instagram/@p.project_official
Joe tries to explain his perspective on the tragedy that befell him. He likens the pain of losing a child to physical pain, where one pain can distract from the other.
However, there is one thing that breaks Joe's heart regarding the fire of his house. He lost Gege's belongings that he had collected.
"This fire takes away the pain of remembering the child who died. So for example, if your right leg hurts, try stabbing your left leg, you will shift (focus) to your left leg," said Joe.
Joe revealed his plan to create a memorabilia area in the house as a form of respect for his son. However, the plan had to be dashed because all of Gege's belongings were burned.
Despite losing all physical memories, Joe tries to interpret this incident positively. He seems to hear a message from his son to let go and move on.
"So I was actually collecting his band's equipment, I was trying to make memorabilia, I made it for the studio at home. I collected his photos when he was little too. But when the fire broke out, all of that was destroyed, so everything was gone, nothing. It was as if all his memories were burned, as if my son was saying, never mind, I'm okay here," said Joe.