The simple yet heartbreaking love story of Aika and John which aired on ABS-CBN’s “Maalala Mo Kaya” last Saturday led social media users to comfort the real characters behind the story.
The “Love Me Now” episode of the show featured the eternal love story of the young college couple Aika and John, played by teen love team Julia Barretto and Joshua Garcia.
Aika (Barretto), who was diagnosed with leukemia, shelved her plans of having a boyfriend for fear of heartbreak. She encounters John (Garcia) and her gloomy world is suddenly ignited with hope and happiness. He accompanies Aika to her chemotherapy sessions and never left her despite hardships.
Unfortunately, John succumbed to death due to a vehicular accident while Aika was recovering from her ailment.
The said episode became the most talked about topic on Twitter, where fans praised the duo for their performance. But it is the real-life couple’s tale of Aika Dare and John Michael Española that drove netizens to be vocal about their collective heartbreak over the weekend.
A Facebook page managed to track down Dare and posted her pictures with her deceased boyfriend, which has garnered 66,000 likes and 40,000 shares as of Monday. All drawn to the story, a huge number of netizens also shared their vivid memories of their late partners and how they coped with loss.
Dare, who was in a five-year romance with Española before his death, acknowledged the netizens’ surreal response to their love story and thanked them for their sympathies.
“I just want you all to know na hindi sayang ‘yung sa ‘min ni John (our relationship was not a waste). It was our perfect love story. It might have not been the usual na we would grow old together pero our love remained pure, unconditional and everlasting. That, I will hold for the rest of my life,” Dare wrote in a Facebook post.
“It took me a whole lot of emotions to push this project and now it’s all coming back and I have to say, wala pa din kapantay yung sakit (the pain is still incomparable),” she added. JB
