- Local time
- 5:08 PM
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2021
- Messages
- 1,548
- Reaction score
- 4,100
- Age
- 27
- Location
- South Africa
- Real Name
- Shaun
HelloClan community,
The full picture is here, with great sadness.
@Santa managed to find an online obituary for a person that resembled our {AiR} Piet. With this information, I had first attempted to get in touch with Piet's wife, although I suspect she is not very active on Facebook, so I then reached out to Piet's son with success.
There was still doubt and I truly hoped that I was wrong, but his father (Pieter) is the same person we have come to know as {AiR} Piet. Pieter had indeed sadly passed away on the 6th of March 2020.
For those unaware, he was diagnosed with Prostrate Cancer. All the time leading up to when he last played with us, he had been fighting it valiantly even though the circumstances kept worsening.
He joined us a few times back in the day on TeamSpeak, I still remember talking to him and trying to speak Afrikaans to him. He was always pleasant to have around and it's extremely disheartening that I never got the chance to even video call with him.
I have asked his son for permission to share a photo of Pieter on our memorial page, along with a bit more info about him as well as our conversation. I will update this topic when I have received the responses.
In remembrance of {AiR} Piet - a formidable pilot and an outstanding human being!
Ps. For anyone interested, the initial message that I sent, followed by the message I sent once it was confirmed they were the same person can be seen below in text format. I have omitted the names / surnames and link for privacy reasons.
The full picture is here, with great sadness.
@Santa managed to find an online obituary for a person that resembled our {AiR} Piet. With this information, I had first attempted to get in touch with Piet's wife, although I suspect she is not very active on Facebook, so I then reached out to Piet's son with success.
There was still doubt and I truly hoped that I was wrong, but his father (Pieter) is the same person we have come to know as {AiR} Piet. Pieter had indeed sadly passed away on the 6th of March 2020.
For those unaware, he was diagnosed with Prostrate Cancer. All the time leading up to when he last played with us, he had been fighting it valiantly even though the circumstances kept worsening.
He joined us a few times back in the day on TeamSpeak, I still remember talking to him and trying to speak Afrikaans to him. He was always pleasant to have around and it's extremely disheartening that I never got the chance to even video call with him.
I have asked his son for permission to share a photo of Pieter on our memorial page, along with a bit more info about him as well as our conversation. I will update this topic when I have received the responses.
In remembrance of {AiR} Piet - a formidable pilot and an outstanding human being!
Ps. For anyone interested, the initial message that I sent, followed by the message I sent once it was confirmed they were the same person can be seen below in text format. I have omitted the names / surnames and link for privacy reasons.
Greetings OMITTED, I hope that you are well? We've not met before, my name is Shaun and I run a gaming community called -[HELLO]- clan.
We play a computer game called Battlefield Vietnam. The reason I am getting in touch is because I think that Pieter, your dad, was a player on our server with the name of {AIR} Piet. He first joined us around the 24th February 2010, and his last recorded match was 23rd February 2020.
We know that {AIR} Piet had been fighting cancer for quite some time. I occasionally tried to keep contact through the game however I was not always around during the later years, though at the time of what appears to be his untimely passing, I was away and didn't know. I came back to the community earlier this year, on a hunt to find out what happened to him. Many members of our community were touched by his kindness. His character greatly added to our atmosphere. I had sent three/four emails to him but I never got a response. We were all worried and were unsure of what had happened. I tried to find a way to see if our greatest fear was true, and I had a friend help me find this:LINK OMITTED.
If {AIR} Piet and Pieter are the same person, I want to you know that his imprint on our community will always be remembered. He played on the odd hours, and he would often help strange new players to learn the game, he'd teach them how to fly the jets in-game, he'd spend a great amount of time laughing and gaming with us. We only have fond memories of him. He was a great man and I am sorry I didn't get to know him more, out of the game.
I can understand that receiving a message like this out of the blue may seem odd, but it is a terrible thing not seeing him in-game and, in the case of my info being correct, I am truly sorry for your loss. I'd be greatly appreciative if you could respond. If I have made a terrible mix up, I truly apologize. I am only trying to find closure.
My thanks and greetings in advance.
Shaun
Ps. If ever he spoke of us, my in-game name was IceSkater & I am from South Africa. I did send a similar message toOMITTED, but I'm not sure if she yet got it.
We play a computer game called Battlefield Vietnam. The reason I am getting in touch is because I think that Pieter, your dad, was a player on our server with the name of {AIR} Piet. He first joined us around the 24th February 2010, and his last recorded match was 23rd February 2020.
We know that {AIR} Piet had been fighting cancer for quite some time. I occasionally tried to keep contact through the game however I was not always around during the later years, though at the time of what appears to be his untimely passing, I was away and didn't know. I came back to the community earlier this year, on a hunt to find out what happened to him. Many members of our community were touched by his kindness. His character greatly added to our atmosphere. I had sent three/four emails to him but I never got a response. We were all worried and were unsure of what had happened. I tried to find a way to see if our greatest fear was true, and I had a friend help me find this:
If {AIR} Piet and Pieter are the same person, I want to you know that his imprint on our community will always be remembered. He played on the odd hours, and he would often help strange new players to learn the game, he'd teach them how to fly the jets in-game, he'd spend a great amount of time laughing and gaming with us. We only have fond memories of him. He was a great man and I am sorry I didn't get to know him more, out of the game.
I can understand that receiving a message like this out of the blue may seem odd, but it is a terrible thing not seeing him in-game and, in the case of my info being correct, I am truly sorry for your loss. I'd be greatly appreciative if you could respond. If I have made a terrible mix up, I truly apologize. I am only trying to find closure.
My thanks and greetings in advance.
Shaun
Ps. If ever he spoke of us, my in-game name was IceSkater & I am from South Africa. I did send a similar message to
Thank you for the response!
I'm terribly sorry for his loss. We are a close community and it's quite noticeable when someone doesn't check in.
I'm just truly sorry it took me so long to get in touch. I still realize this conversation is a bit of a shock. But it felt right that I get in touch and let you know what he meant to us as a community.
I'm honored that message got though and that it means something to you. I only knew Piet from the game, and as I already said, he was a great person from that perspective. I know it's late to say this but you and your family do not mourn alone. We have also lost a very respectable member of our community and on behalf of HelloClan, we all send you our condolences. We mourn with you.
I'm terribly sorry for his loss. We are a close community and it's quite noticeable when someone doesn't check in.
I'm just truly sorry it took me so long to get in touch. I still realize this conversation is a bit of a shock. But it felt right that I get in touch and let you know what he meant to us as a community.
I'm honored that message got though and that it means something to you. I only knew Piet from the game, and as I already said, he was a great person from that perspective. I know it's late to say this but you and your family do not mourn alone. We have also lost a very respectable member of our community and on behalf of HelloClan, we all send you our condolences. We mourn with you.
