The day Divine Adili and Rene Baterbonia died

Ateneo players remember how the trip that was supposed to strengthen the bond of the Blue Eagles turned out to be very sad

MANILA, Philippines – The Ateneo Blue Eagles came to Dipaculao, Aurora, for a team building with hopes of strengthening their relationship as they prepare for UAAP Season 89.

After missing out on the Final Four in the past two seasons, Ateneo looked like a team to watch this time around, with big-name players. Clean battery with Kieffer Ole and immediate talents EJ Kapihe and Travis Roberts joining senior catcher Jared Bahay, Divine Virtue, Shawn Tuano, Ian Espinosa, Waki ​​Espina, and Andrew Bongo.

But Aurora’s journey turned tragic as Baterbonia, an incoming athlete, and Adili, a Nigerian expatriate athlete, died from drowning during one of their activities.

A week after the incident, Ole and Sam Reyes appeared on Let’s talk to Pia Hontiveros podcast to highlight the events that led to the deaths of their peers.

Team building was overseen by head coach Tab Baldwin, assistant coaches Sandro Soriano, Dean Castaño, and Jon Jacinto, strength and conditioning coach CJ Elumba, physical therapist Jerick Rueca, and two student managers.

Players who made the trip to Aurora include Alas, Reyes, Baterbonia, Adili, Bahay, Tuano, Espinosa, Espina, Bongo, Kapihe, Roberts, Sultan Baruwa, Logan Baltazar, Kyle Gamber, Grayson Rogers, Matt de Luna, Malcolm Tyler, Jay-Msoro Leal, Alden Alden, Michael Carolet.

Saturday, June 6

• Ateneo wins its first game in the FilOil EcoOil Preseason Cup.
  • The Blue Eagles coast to a 72-52 victory over the Adamson Soaring Falcons.
  • The best players include Roberts (17 points, 3 rebounds), Espina (9 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals), Ole (9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), and Bahay (7 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds).
  • Baterbonia watches the game from the sidelines two days after arriving in Manila on June 4.
  • Adili does not play.

Sunday, June 7

• The team leaves for Aurora.
• On the afternoon of their arrival, the players clean up the debris from the beach in preparation for the next day’s activities. This is also the time when the photo showing Baterbonia writing his name in the sand is taken.
• Players participate in a group session where they are asked to introduce themselves, tell a fun fact about themselves, and practice Ateneo’s song “Mary’s Song.”
  • Baterbonia’s fun fact is that she loves watching mukbang videos.
• The players gather for dinner.
• Baldwin announces that the players need to put away their phones, before the team calls it a night.

Monday, June 8

• Players are awakened at dawn by a siren that signals the start of the day’s activities.
  • Since there is no clock around and the players surrendered their phones, they don’t know the time.
• The players go for a run in the morning.
  • Ole: “Everyone has to run four kilometers and we combined the times and it should be like under a certain time. I’m not sure how much. We passed with flying colors. We were happy and celebrated.”
• The team is preparing breakfast.
  • Reyes: “Our veterinarians were assigned the task of cooking breakfast and the waiters were assigned the task of setting the table.”
• Players are given a break around 8 am.
  • Woe takes sleep. Reyes swims, finding deep water.
• Players enjoy the game of dodgeball.
  • Ole: “It was really good. Everyone was enjoying it. It was good competition.”
• The team gathers for lunch.
• Team water activity begins.
  • The players are instructed to line up in the water up to their thighs parallel to the shore for the practice led by Castaño.
  • Alas: “It was really easy, it should have been like 10 minutes.”
  • Kapihe at 6-foot-7 and Tyler at 6-foot-10 are the furthest from shore followed by Reyes, Baterbonia, Alas, and Leal. Adili is somewhere in the middle of the line because she is not a swimmer.
• The first wave hits. The water level rises from the thigh to the chest.
  • The players don’t think much of the first wave that hit them, as Reyes describes it as “bigger than us.”
  • Reyes: “In the beginning, we were having fun laughing at the first wave.”
• The waves fall continuously.
  • Things get worse after the second wave when players hear Gamber screaming for help.
  • Woe on Gamber: “The funny thing is we were all laughing because we thought he was just joking.”
  • Reyes: “During the first wave, we were riding the wave and we didn’t realize that we were being pulled. Then when the second wave came, that’s when we realized that (something was wrong).”
  • Panic sets in after the third wave as the players are pulled further from the beach.
  • Reyes remembers being with Bongo: “When we were able to touch the sand we looked back and saw that our colleagues were still in trouble, we swam back to help, I heard the Sultan (a foreign athlete) shouting for help, he was close so I went to him first, I tried to drag him near the beach, when I saw there was Malcolm they were helping him, I knew Malm was already there. Ian doesn’t know how to swim so Ian had a hard time.”
  • Ole is with Adili, Leal, and Kapihe: “Me, Jay-M, and Divine, we were all relying on EJ because we knew he was a good swimmer. I was on the shoulder, Divine was on the shoulder, then Jay-M was in front of him. We were like that for 20 seconds. EJ pushed close to the beach and JayM worked again. and I was hugging to try to float but it didn’t work, we went down and down for more than 10 seconds and we parted When I went up in the air… I was so far away from everyone.
  • Reyes tries to help Tyler in keeping Espinosa, but he goes into “total panic” as he fears for his life, after swallowing a large amount of water.
  • Ole and Reyes both accept their fate that they will die. The two take turns floating and swimming before finding each other and helping each other reach the shore despite both being sick to their stomachs.
• Reyes, Ole, Espinosa, and Leal are among the last players to return to the field.
  • Alas: “Coach Jon had a swimming ring, so (he and Ian) shared it. Someone threw a volleyball to Jay-M. He used it as a float to get it back.”
• The team realizes Baterbonia and Adili are missing.
  • Reyes says the last time he saw the 6-foot-4 Baterbonia was when they were still “having fun”: “I lost him when we were already scared.”
  • Ole and Reyes last saw Adili when the 6-foot-10 Nigerian was with Kapihe.
  • Reyes: “EJ was saving people, and when he got tired, he went back to the beach, rested a bit, and swam and went back out.”
  • Alas: “(EJ) was trying to save the Divine.”
• Baternonia is found unconscious.
  • Reyes: “When we saw Rene, we were the ones who carried him and pulled him out of the water, not the first responders.
  • Ole: “There was one boy who had taken out his phone. I was wondering why. I couldn’t say anything. Coach Sandro and I, we couldn’t focus on what was happening, we were overwhelmed. I saw with my own eyes that he was just filming. I’m pretty sure there was a picture of (Rene) in an ambulance or him being pulled in a stretcher, which was given to him.”
  • Baterbonia is receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) from Rueca.
  • The paramedic tells Rueca to stop CPR so Baterbonia can be transferred to the ambulance and taken to Aurora Memorial Hospital.
• Adili is taken from the water by several teammates as the ambulance carrying Baterbonia leaves.
  • Ole: “Coach Sandro and I ran to the ambulance to tell them to stop. I don’t think they heard us. Coach Sandro and I went back, we saw about 15 people carrying Divine. I was just there, I couldn’t understand what was happening. I was like watching. It was very difficult.”
  • Later, a police car brings Adili to the same hospital.
• At 5:00 p.m., the players get their phones back and the coaches tell them to just tell their parents or guardians about the incident.
  • Reyes: “After the tragedy, the coaches told us not to tell anyone about what happened so that they would inform the parents (of Rene and Divine) first, they wanted to inform the parents first before they saw it on social media.”
  • Some of the players’ parents travel to Aurora to be there for their children.
• Ateneo announces the deaths of Baterbonia and Adili at 7 pm through their social media accounts.
• The other players sleep in Aurora as they struggle with the sad fact that they lost two of their teammates.
  • Reyes: “That night while we were still in Aurora, it was already 12:00 in the morning, I tried to sleep and I saw (Baterbonia) her face, as I was carrying her I saw her face, when I tried to sleep I saw her face, I slept a little, I woke up suddenly around 3 in the morning and I did not believe in Rene’s room, because we did not believe. in bed, like the last time I saw them, I went out to take a breath, I was walking carelessly, and I felt that I had to I woke up from him, then we started talking about what happened.

Tuesday, June 9

• The team returns to Manila.
• From Aurora Memorial Hospital, the remains of Baterbonia and Adili are being transported to Arlington Memorial Chapels in Quezon City.

– Rappler.com