Death leaves a deep void in the hearts of affected families. For parents, the most heartbreaking experience is burying a child, regardless of the circumstances surrounding their demise.

One man caught in this web of tragic loss is Shyngle Wigwe, a pastor and father of Herbert Wigwe, the Group Managing Director and CEO of Access Bank Plc.

Before Herbert’s untimely passing, Shyngle had already suffered the devastating loss of his first child, Osita, in 1997.

Osita, who was 34 at the time, died in a road accident on June 5. Recalling the pain of that loss, Shyngle described him as "one in a million" during an interview after Herbert’s death.

“I had never sweated like that in my life before, and I never thought it would happen to me. For weeks, I couldn’t go up to the altar. When I did, I wept and came down. It felt like someone had used forceps to pull my heart out,” he said.

“That boy was one in a million. He had the attributes of both a daughter and a son. He was a solution provider to all family problems. If I had him, I felt like I had everything. For a long time, life no longer felt worth living. We spoke as brothers, not just as father and son.”

While the family was still struggling to come to terms with Osita’s death, tragedy struck again—Herbert lost his life in a helicopter crash on February 9, 2024.

Monday, February 10, 2025, marked one year since Herbert, his wife Chizoba, their son Chizi, and their friend Abimbola Ogunbanjo perished in a helicopter accident in Southern California, United States.

The crash occurred over the Mojave Desert between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Friday, February 9, 2024, California time (between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. on February 10, 2024, Nigerian time).

Shyngle Wigwe and his wife have been married for 56 years. Just as they hoped to outlive their parents, they also prayed that their children would outlive them—a heartbreaking wish that was tragically unfulfilled.

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