An ischemic stroke stole Dimitris Kotzaridis away

Nobody can believe the loss of 53 year old Dimitris Kotzaridis, the “smiling guy”, as he was described by friends and comrades in the party.

Grief in Vironas, his neighborhood and home, was brought on by the news of his death during yesterday’s incidents in Syntagma square.

Unlucky Dimitris came to Athens from Komotini before he was 20 years old. He got married and had two children. In the midst of hardship he was able to put them through university.

A daily wage worker, he worked in construction, and was the son of a family of communists, according to the “Rizospastis” newspaper. In 1980, he joined the construction union of the Communist Party.

For three years now he had not been able to find work, only a few days’ work in construction sites here and there, while his wife had also lost her job.

The difficulties he faced were incredible, as attested to by those who know the family, who stressed the fact that anyone can imagine how difficult it must be for two unemployed parents to be raising two daughters, 22 and 28, and putting them through university.

The funeral of the unfortunate 53-year-old will take place in Vironas tomorrow.

Forensic examination results:

The cause of death was due to an ischemic stroke. After the autopsy conducted on Friday afternoon the head of the Forensic Medicine Department, Philipos Koustaftis, stated that: “The cause of death is - so far - ischemic myocardial lesions, recent ones, with a lack of injuries. A full laboratory investigation will follow. We will be able to determine the causes of this fatal myocardial ischemia”.

On his part the technical adviser of the family, Simeon Mesogitis, who attended the proceedings, added: “It should be noted that macroscopically, the heart of this man did not reveal signs of any old ischemia or an old heart attack. That is as far as we could determine, macroscopically. A histological and toxicological investigation will take place, so we can have a full picture of the causes of death”.

The histological and toxicological examinations are expected to determine the actual cause of death.

Papoulias’ statement

“Our sorrow for the unjust death of Dimitris Kotzaridis is profound. I want to express my sympathy to his family and friends. The peaceful protest of thousands of citizens was marred by a terrible event that should never happen again. Tolerance to any sort of violence feeds it and perpetuates it, and thus it is important that we are not reconciled with the idea of converting a peaceful protest to a full-scale battle”, President Karolos Papoulias stated in his condolence message.