Honduran journalist and former Univision anchor Neida Sandoval announced Wednesday the death of her husband David Cochran, at age 70. “It is with deep sadness in my soul that I inform you that last night 2/22/22 at 7:10 pm Miami time – the city where we reside – my beloved husband, David Cochran passed away at the age of 70,” Sandoval said.
He indicated that his partner had been in his health for almost two decades “fragile due to the sequelae left by cardiovascular complications as a result of 3 strokes and heart attacks he suffered in January 2003. The journalist said that “his death was quick and unexpected.” “David passed away in our home surrounded by our love and care,” he added.
“His death leaves us a great void and we ask our beloved God for peace for his soul, and comfort for our hearts saddened by his physical departure. We love you David and we can’t believe you’re no longer with us,” the journalist wrote, receiving hundreds of messages of condolences, including from her colleague María Celeste Arrarás. According to People en Español, Neida and her husband had two children: twins Aliene Aida and Abener David, who were 4 1/2 months old when their father suffered three strokes in the right part of his brain and a heart attack that left him motionless in a bed and robbed of his learning.
As Neida herself recalls in these farewell words for her husband, 19 years ago, she was living one of the happiest moments of her life: she was the news anchor of the most watched show on TV, ‘Despierta América’, she had finally managed to get pregnant and had just had her twins, Ali and Abito with the love of her life. But everything changed when her husband, David Cochran, suffered three strokes on his right side and a heart attack.
A few months ago, on the anniversary of that day that changed their lives, the Honduran journalist remembered it this way:
“January 13… Impossible to forget! 19 years ago David collapsed in the kitchen of our home in Miami. It was the morning of January 13, 2003. At that moment our life as a couple and as a family took another course. David could no longer carry our twins of just 4 and a half months of birth. Three strokes in the right part of the brain that controls the cognitive area and a heart attack left him motionless in a bed and robbed him of all his learning.
The road has been long… of battles and victories, of stumbles and falls, of moving forward with a smile and the faith that only God can give us! David had suddenly been left as a baby, he could not walk, or show his emotions, or put on his clothes or bathe, he could not brush his teeth, or eat alone, he forgot how to open a door, drive a car, say I love you, hug us, he had lost the natural ability to laugh or get angry…
The medical prognoses were not encouraging but a combination of good doctors, excellent therapists, change of diet, properly administered medications, home care, family love, help from dear friends and faith in our supreme being today 19 years later David is still here and we with him. His gait is slow but his neurocerebral capacity has largely recovered. David can no longer climb mountains and ride horses or display his dancing skills on a country music floor!… It has not been an easy road and with the passage of time we must embrace even more our faith, tolerance, love, empathy and compassion.
One of the things I value is that our children Ali and Abito (Aliene Aida and Abener David) have had the privilege of growing up with their father, of sharing valuable knowledge when doing schoolwork together during primary and secondary school, of developing as adolescents a sensitivity to people with special needs and of valuing the family unit and understanding that there are no excuses to move forward conquering their dreams. Thank you for your love and prayers!”
Rest in peace David Cochran, and much love for Neida and her children.
