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RIO – He was 7 years old when he left his bicycle in the yard, opened the iron gate of the house where he lived, in Jardim Gramacho, one of the most miserable areas of Rio, and won the world. After seven months of searching, already pregnant with her sixth child, Marlene Flauzino, she found Carlos Eduardo Pires Magalhães wandering along Praia de Botafogo with a group of children of the same age, all with broken glass in hand. She gave the boy a hug and took him home. A week later, it disappeared again. It was the beginning of a series of comings and goings that ended with the street gaining a wide lead. It was on the sidewalks that Carlos Eduardo ended up living most of his 39 years. And it was on the cold floor of a bakery in Ipanema that he ended up dead, last Friday, after asking in vain for help.
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The life of Carlos Eduardo, invisible to passersby, to the point where people continue to eat breakfast in front of his body covered in black plastic, was not always so transparent. Located this Tuesday by GLOBO, Marlene says that her son was sponsored by the Botafogo firefighters when he was about 10 years old. He did the Botinho project and attended a school:
“He learned to swim.” The firefighters liked it so much that they got Carlinhos a uniform. Even the private school in Copacabana paid. I don’t remember the name, but it was Our Lady of something. He studied until the fifth grade. Carlinhos told me that he was the only black man. At that time, his home was the barracks.
It is not known how Carlinhos’ life really went wrong, but his story, like that of so many homeless people, is also one of the fight against drugs.
– One day when he was older, he found his way home and I scolded him for the lack of news. I pressed him on the corner and asked him if he was using drugs. He told me it was just marijuana, but I knew there were others, like crack. I showered, put deodorant on him, and gave him clean clothes. It was my brand new Carlinhos, until he went back to his world – Marlene says excitedly. – He told me: ‘mom, I like freedom like birds’.
‘I wanted to protect you’
Relying on sedatives since she learned of her son’s death, which would have been due to advanced tuberculosis, Marlene assures that she did not deserve the indifference she had in her last moments:
“It wasn’t just another.” He had a family. I always went after my son, but he said he wanted to see the world. I wanted to protect you inside the house. Maybe this was my mistake.
In fragile health, after four heart attacks and three strokes (stroke), Marlene says she last spoke with Carlinhos about a month ago:
“I always asked him if he was okay and he said he was okay.” He said it was for me to worry about myself, to take care of myself.
Carlinhos never said he was sick. The family now struggles to free her body and rebuild part of her history. Marlene knows pieces: she says she loved Copacabana, she remembers that she had a daughter on the street, María Eduarda, and that she was proud to have participated in a movie as an extra. These are memories that you will keep with the only two photos left of your son after a flood that affected the family home: Carlinhos as a baby and at his christening.
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Carlinhos’ mother lives in a humble house with a bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom, lined with asbestos tiles, in a poor neighborhood in São Gonçalo. One of the daughters lives in a neighboring house to help him.
– The last time we spoke was a month ago. I always asked him if he was okay and he said he was okay. He said it was for me to worry about myself, to take care of myself. If I had known about his illness, I would have brought him here to care for him. I would mobilize my children, sons-in-law and grandchildren to pick it up. I was standing by the stove preparing rice when the news reached me. My daughter sat me on the couch and gave me water. I soon realized that something had happened to my Carlinhos _ he says with teary eyes.
Carlinhos never said he was sick. The family now struggles to free her body and rebuild part of her history. Marlene knows pieces: she says she loved Copacabana, she remembers that she had a daughter on the street, María Eduarda, and that she was proud to have participated in a movie as an extra. These are memories that you will preserve with the only two photos you have of your son after a flood that hit the family home: Carlinhos as a baby and at his christening.
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Carlos Eduardo’s younger sister, Dandara Sampaio, has faced a true via-crucis for the liberation of the body. According to her, as soon as the family learned of the death, they tried to find him at the bakery, at the IML, until they reached the Miguel Couto Municipal Hospital, in Leblon. In the latter, he said that an employee refused to give information.
– We did not know what to do. I still haven’t been able to see my brother. I was desperate. The employee said that ‘I wanted to go beyond the limits that fit me’. I said, ‘This is not so. I just want to free my brother’s body and bury him! ‘Then I went to the nearby Family Clinic to see if I could get him any documents. They had nothing, but the social worker explained to me what her tuberculosis treatment was like. It was as if we were picking up the pieces of his life. We did not want him to be buried as homeless – says Dandara, not understanding why Carlos Eduardo’s body did not go to the IML, who was already dead.
The director of the Miguel Couto Hospital, Cristiano Chame, explained that a new resolution allows the Fire Department to take the body of a person, in cases other than violence, to hospitals. There, police officers collect fingerprints to search Detran’s database and identify him. It is the police or the hospital itself who contact the victims’ families. In the case of Carlos Eduardo, Samu took him to the hospital and, as the body collection guide had not yet been identified, the service itself would have to make an addition and change the status to identified. Another possibility would be through a court order.
– We regret the pain of the loss of that family. But we are stuck with the legislation. Anyway, we contacted Samu who appointed a doctor to make the change and identify him to deliver the body to the family as soon as possible – explained Chame.
For Marlene, all that remains is to bury her son:
– I love my seven children, 38 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, but Carlinhos was very special. He kissed my hand! What hurts me is seeing that he could have been careful. He arrived at the bakery feeling bad. It was gross negligence. Heartless people. You don’t even do that with an animal.
