BARANGAY Ginebra coach Tim Cone has yet to get over the death of former assistant coach Aric Del Rosario when another person close to him also passed away.
Cone took to social media to condole with the family of the late pilot Captain Mario Medina Jr, who perished in the ill-fated Lion Air plane accident which was on medical mission on Sunday night.
The champion coach said he used to play golf regularly with the late pilot, who was also a fan of the PBA’s most popular ballclub.
“Mario was a golf buddy, a frequenter at our Ginebra games, and just lived down the street,” said Cone, who actually lived in the same village with Medina, Meralco assistant coach Luigi Trillo, and veteran TV analyst and sports columnist Quinito Henson.
The death of Medina came just three days after Del Rosario, Cone’s long-time deputy while still with Alaska, passed away due to cardiac arrest.
“Great guy, great humanitarian,” added Cone in his Twitter post. “Another friend gone. Tragic.”
Medina was a sportsman true and true as he also established friendship with other PBA players including four-time MVP Ramon Fernandez, Gil Cortez, and Ompong Segura, along with former MICAA and Ateneo stalwart Ricky Palou.
He comes from a family of pilots that included his father and two sons.
Medina retired from Philippine Airlines in 2013 but still goes on flight as check pilot and instructor.
PAL spokeswoman Cielo Villaluna said Medina was known ‘for landing the aircraft smoothly that water won’t even spill over.’
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