I'm OK, boy messages mum before fatal fall

At 5.38 p.m. on Saturday night, Brian Johansen, 16, sent his mother a text message saying "Ma, I'm OK". An hour later he fell off the bastions in Herbert Ganado Garden, Floriana, and died soon after.

"I wish I invented something not to let him go to Valletta that day," his mother, Sue, said, clutching her mobile phone as she tried to retrieve the SMS.

Her teary eyes blurred her vision and her husband Peter wrapped his burly arm protectively around her, before breaking down himself, as he recalled how he received a call from the police at 7.11 p.m.

"The police said there had been a small accident but I suspected the worst because they said I shouldn't tell my wife anything, not to worry her," Mr Johansen said, burying his face in a blue towel, his body wracking with sobs.

The parents rushed to Valletta, manoeuvring through the traffic heading for the Notte Bianca celebrations. Mr Johansen went to the police station to collect his youngest son Lucas, 14, who was in a state of shock, and his wife accompanied Brian to hospital.

"Brian was unconscious. I held his hand; he was freezing cold and looked battered... His heart had stopped beating and at hospital they spent nearly an hour trying to revive him, but it was all in vain," Mrs Johansen said, reaching out to hug Lucas.

Lucas had gone out with his brother and his friends on Saturday and, as he sat on the sofa with his parents yesterday, he still seemed stunned by what had happened.

Speaking softly, he recalled how they had caught the bus from San Ġwann in the afternoon and then hung around the Tritons Fountain, at the Valletta bus terminus, waiting for their friends.

Time passed and at about 6 p.m., the group of friends split up and Lucas went for a bite at Burger King while his brother went to hang out on the bastions.

"We were planning a chip fight (where they throw French fries at each other)," he said, managing a smile.

Lucas had no idea where his brother was and when he eventually tracked down the rest of the group on the bastions, Brian had already plummeted some five storeys.

"When I got there his friends starting screaming, saying he had fallen off. I thought they were joking. I leaned over the bastions and saw him below. I shouted out his name. He was still alive, because he had managed to move his hands a bit," Lucas said, tears streaming freely down his face.

"His friends said that when he got up, Brian lost his balance and toppled over," he added.

In the commotion that ensued, with the police and Civil Protection Department personnel trying to rescue his brother, Lucas does not remember much else.

Brian's parents would like the gate leading to the bastions to be kept shut because so many young people risked their life when they went to hang out on wide, sloping walls.

The spot where Brian fell has already been transformed into a makeshift memorial - his friends have laid flowers, lit candles and scrawled tributes with marker on the wall: "Brian you're a good mate", "May the gods look after you", "Brian rest in peace, October 4, 6.30 p.m."

"We are very grateful for all the help we have received from the police, the CPD, family and friends," Mrs Johansen said.

Although he was a reserved, shy boy, Brian was very popular, especially because he was a loyal friend, who always put other people's interests before his.

His parents recounted how he was such an obedient boy, "an angel, and a perfect child with the sweetest smile".

Mrs Johansen recalled how the morning of the incident the whole family was in fits of laughter as she tried to trim Brian's hair.

"He was teasing me and said I should put on my spectacles because I risked snipping his ears off by mistake," she said, clutching her crumbling tissue.

Mr Johansen could barely manage to talk. Instead, he handed over an A4 file paper where he had scribbled down his emotions, soon after he learnt the news of his son's death.

It reads: "Last Saturday, a flower in our family tree died out much too soon. Brian was 16 and already a better man than I can ever hope to be... He was always happy, he loved animals.

"We teach our children and pray for the best. But it is out of our hands from the very beginning. Talk to your children and love them... Listen to them and they will show you an uncorrupted world full of love and friendship."

Brian's funeral will be held at the San Ġwann parish church today at 2 p.m.