Unable to get over the loss of his son, Emiliano Sala’s father dies of heart attack at 58

Horacio Sala, father of late Cardiff City player Emiliano Sala, has died. The 58-year-old passed away after suffering a heart attack in the early hours of Friday morning.

With paramedics unable to revive him at the scene, Horacio died at his home in Progreso, Argentina, three months after his son was killed in a tragic plane crash.

The local media from the Santa Fe province reported that Sala had passed away late on Thursday night, with Julio Muller, Mayor of Progreso, issuing a statement to radio station La Red.

“2019 doesn’t let up in shocking us with news in this town,” he said.

“At five o’clock in the morning, the lady, his wife, rang me and she was very upset. The doctors were there but when I arrived at their home, he had already died. He could never get over Emi’s death.”

Emiliano had tragically lost his life along with pilot David Ibbotson in January, after their plane travelling from his old club Nantes to new buyers Cardiff crashed over the English channel.

The 28-year-old had just become the Bluebird’s £15 million ($19m) record signing from Nantes, having spent the previous eight years of his career in France.

Emiliano’s body was eventually discovered on February 8, after a private rescue team took over the search for the missing aircraft from authorities, but Ibbotson’s was never found.

Horacio is known never to have got over the death of his son, having repeatedly said after the discovery of the body: “I cannot believe it. This is a dream. A bad dream. I am desperate.”

– With agency reports