3 Years - 27/10/2018

[LestaAl]

Bizarre moment for us was in a restaurant early evening after a few drinks and a fan reached across and said he died. 

I thought they were talking about big Dan who had gone off with his serious ankle injury. 

We could not understand what had happened until they explained , then looked at our phones with a collection of missed calls and it began to sink in. 
….following morning at the King Power was very sombre and not surprising that all the florists in the city were sold out that day.

 

The memorial garden and the ongoing success of the club are fitting tributes for those that died.

[PhillippaT]

In some ways, I'm kinda glad that we were somewhat distant from this, merely having to keep up with the news that evening and after to find out what happened - if I'd have still been in Thurmaston I think it would have felt a more.  My friend in Leicester, though, was a little closer - he had taken a trip to Morrisons after the match, and walked past the stadium before and after...

 

RIP Everyone who died that night  

 

(Note: I've never been in a helicopter, and since that night, I'm not sure I ever want to!)

[MalletFox]

It’s crazy to think that 3 years has passed, in some senses it feels like only yesterday and in others seems longer ago.

 

Like most, I remember vividly where I was when the news first broke. We had headed into town after the game for a few beers, then overheard someone mention about a helicopter crash, I hadn’t put two and two together until people started looking on their phones and started to see the images emerging on news channels, still seems so surreal even now.

 

I really hope it’s a fitting tribute tonight and the attendance is decent enough to make the tribute as special as it can be. We owe everything to Khun Vichai for where we are today. 
 

🙏🏻💙🦊🇹🇭

[ARM1968]

Some things live with you forever. This is one of them for me and many others. Tragic and sad, but the legacy lives on. 

[MPH]

I get quite emotional just thinking about it to be honest. It’s hard for me to even post about it. Pathetic really aren’t I?

 

he was just so nice. So respectful. So kind. 
 

 

there’s two different things going on here… we lost a very good chairman… but we also lost a genuinely good and kind man. The world needs more of people like him not less .

[fleshdaddy]

RIP boss, and the others who tragically lost their lives. Hope we do them all proud tonight!

Also reminds me of how well Puel handled the whole thing.

[foxfanazer]

32 minutes ago, MPH said:

I get quite emotional just thinking about it to be honest. It’s hard for me to even post about it. Pathetic really aren’t I?

 

he was just so nice. So respectful. So kind. 
 

 

there’s two different things going on here… we lost a very good chairman… but we also lost a genuinely good and kind man. The world needs more of people like him not less .

Not pathetic at all my friend. Its a testament to the man he was that so many felt it like a personal loss

[foxfanazer]

16 minutes ago, fleshdaddy said:

RIP boss, and the others who tragically lost their lives. Hope we do them all proud tonight!

Also reminds me of how well Puel handled the whole thing.

A very good point. He gets stick on here for his demeanour and playing style but I think he steadied us under some difficult circumstances 

[HighPeakFox]

Will never forget it, and visiting the ground a few days later to leave a shirt. Cardiff was incredible too. 

[foxfanazer]

I've honestly been to family funerals where I've been less cut up than I was after Vichai's tragic death. Might sound weird but then again he's given me some of the best days of my life

[urban fox]

Had watched the game on tv but switched off at the final whistle as i had to prepare dinner as we had friends coming over. Got a text message to say a helicopter had crashed in town and dismissed it as there had been some false reports some time previously about one supposedly crashing into the shopping centre and said it was more internet trolling probably.

then another text came from my daughter, who lives in Sheffield, asking if i had been to the match and if not and i was at home i had better put the news on. First thoughts was it was going to be something dire surrounding Big Dan Amarteys horrible injury, little did i realise just how much worse it was going to be. First images i saw were just flames and lots of blue lights everywhere and as the camera pannned round the scene realised it was at the stadium. Knew straight away that it could only possibly be the KP helicopter. 

The wait for news over the next few hours was terrible, but deep down we all knew that one or more of the family would have been on board. Needless to say  that none of us really enjoyed our dinner that night.

Condolences to the families on this anniversary of those who died in such tragic circumstances.

[Fox92]

1 hour ago, fleshdaddy said:

RIP boss, and the others who tragically lost their lives. Hope we do them all proud tonight!

Also reminds me of how well Puel handled the whole thing.

Puel handled it so well.

 

As did Burnley. For two years running they were our closest home fixture (to the date) and both times they were superb.

[David Hankey]

Thank you for everything, Vichai. Forever in our hearts.

[KFS]

Had just landed in Mauritius for our wedding, connected to the wifi and my phone was going crazy. Remember being hurried off the plane as they do and in the arrivals hall I just burst into tears. Like has been said I don’t think I’ve felt that way about someone I didn’t even know before. Surreal.

[RonnieTodger]

I remember going for a drink and dinner after the game and then watching Pulev v Hughie Fury and getting a text from my Dad saying what had happened. 

 

I read it, looked at Sky News and couldn't really comprehend it. I put the boxing back on and just felt numb. I was sat there letting it sink in and realising the magnitude of what had happened. 

 

What made it worse was all the dickheads speculating and spreading rumours about who was onboard the helicopter. Tragedies can really bring out the worst in people. 

 

[The_77]

30 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

Not pathetic at all my friend. Its a testament to the man he was that so many felt it like a personal loss

Spot on, @foxfanazer .

 

I was all the way in New York, completely devastated by the loss of five people I’d never met. But then again, Vichai changed all of our lives.
 

That night and next morning, all of us—fans, staff, players— were in the same fog: in pain but numb, desperate for any kind of good news. I spent a good chunk of the next morning exchanging texts with a player, both of us sending any kind of update we could find. We all just wanted this to be a bad dream. 

It wasn’t. The worst was confirmed. 
 

There are some losses that stay with you forever, as this will, but with that, we still see Vichai’s legacy live on as @Bert said so simply and effectively. Khun Top continues to affirm his commitment to his father, our club and its community; supporters of all ages sing about Khun Vichai and there’s no sign of any of that stopping. 
 

Vichai left us too soon but he’ll be a part of all of us forever. 

[MarriedaLeicesterGirl]

 

[Fox in the North]

This is beautifully written and I think it encapsulates everything that the club, the owners and the journey we’ve been on (and are carrying on!) means to us.

 

 

[TAFKA Castroneves]

Emotional day, still three years later it hits me personally very hard as I know it does a lot of us. Some things in life just stick and change you, these can be good or bad.

 

Vichai and the way he led by encouraging the growth of others via love and support, watering his community to allow that ripple effect that carries forward into more and more lives, that’s what changed for me, in a very good way from a bad thing - the importance of being that.

 

Legacy is led by one and taken on by others, Vichai was the first in this game of football to follow this path and the rewards were incredible for us as a football family and as a community.

 

Legend 🦊 

[jayfox26]

5 hours ago, Costock_Fox said:

Still completely gutting, not sure I’ll ever grieve for someone I didn’t know like that again to be honest.

It's a strange feeling isn't it. I don't cry at all but I was genuinely in tears when it happened. Crying tears for a man I had never met. It shows how emotionally connected the fans and everyone at the club were to him and still are to his family. 

 

RIP to all those that lost their lives, still makes me so sad thinking about it. 

[Footballwipe]

2 hours ago, Fox92 said:

Puel handled it so well.

 

As did Burnley. For two years running they were our closest home fixture (to the date) and both times they were superb.

The video they did after that game is absolutely wonderful

 

 

[Carl the Llama]

Barely feels like one year ago, let alone three.  I imagine it will be a 'recent' memory forever.  RIP.

[davieG]

 

 

[Matt_Lcfc]

Remember being in rural Northumberland having missed the game, I was in the pub and launched Twitter and remembering seeing a flurry of Tweets from Lineker and other sports correspondents. Like many on here, it was so difficult to fathom what happened. 
 

It’ll really be a night that me and everybody connected to the club will never forget. I am 100% sure that no game will ever be more poignant than that home match against Burnley.

 

 

Edited 27 October 2021 by Matt_Lcfc

[FoxesAreBlue]

I was at work, on the fire station, just getting ready for a night shift (not in Leicestershire) when my phone started going off.

 

My mates were asking me if it was survivable. I think they knew but just wanted to hear something different from somebody who they perceived to be knowledgable about such things.

 

It was a long shift.