CALVIN Abueva visited referee Edward Aquino in the hospital before going to practice on Wednesday morning to show his concern for the game official who was injured in an accidental collision with the Alaska rookie four days earlier.
Abueva has come under fire for his failure to show concern, or much less apologize, after crashing into Aquino while chasing down a loose ball late in the Aces' win over Barako Bull on Sunday night, causing the referee to be pinned between him and the cushioned baseline railing of the Big Dome.
Aquino had expressed surprise that the 6-1 freshman never bothered to apologize after the incident, but on Wednesday morning he and Abueva showed they were ready to put the incident behind him.
“Calvin told us he wants to check on Edward, kaya we accompanied him,' said CK Kanapi, Alaska senior sports manager who joined Abueva and team manager Dickie Bachmann during the visit.
“Everything went well naman ... Calvin and Edward talked about the incident and he reiterated his earlier statement. Hindi niya kasi alam na ganun ka worse yung nangyari," added Kanapi.
The visit lasted for 30 minutes.
Aquino, on the other hand, was thankful for the visit as well as the flowers from the Alaska organization. The swelling in his bruised spine tissues has subsided and doctors have ruled out a slipped disc injury.
“Nagpapasalamat talaga ako, kasi dinalaw nila ko. Yun lang nag-sorry siya (Abueva) masaya na ko, paano pa itong dinalaw niya ko," said Aquino, who is expected to be discharged later in the afternoon.
“Sabi ko nga na sa akin, tapos na 'yun. Move forward na tayo. Hindi naman personal sa akin yun," added Aquino. “Atleast ramdam ko sincere yung punta niya rito."
Aquino will need 10 more days of bed rest and won't be able to call games for more than three weeks
“Yun nga lang ang problema ko ngayon, apektado lang yung trabaho ko. Mami-miss ko yun. Yun ang craft natin. Mahal na mahal ko ang trabaho ko," he said.
Kanapi reiterated the team’s willingness to help.
“Basta magsabi lang sila how we can help. Alaska Aces is known to be a family-oriented - we love, we don’t hate," said Kanapi.
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