Gonzalo Heguy, the engine of that Chapaleufú Indians Source: THE NATION
Friday May 19, 1995. In one of the corridors of the Prince Charles Eye Unit Hospital, near Windsor Castle, London,
Gonzalo Heguy
He headed for the room where his twin brother was recovering. A very sensitive moment for the family: the day before,
Horacito
He had lost his right eye due to a bump in playing a game of polo, the sport that fascinated them almost since they were together in the womb of Norita Amadeo and Videla de Heguy. Gonzalo stopped his march, retraced his steps and said to us: “You know what? Despite this, we are going to play Palermo in November. The four of us.
And we will earn it the same. Because I’m going to play for myself and also for him. ”
He had no pride in his gaze. Perhaps he was angry with the fate that had long been vicious with this illustrious Argentine sports family. Gonzalo, as his legendary uncle once described him
Alberto Pedro Heguy
, 17 times champion of the Argentine Open with the shirt of Coronel Suárez, “he was in life as on the field: a whirlwind. He put a lot of punch into everything he wanted to achieve, but off the court he was a very sensitive and generous boy ”
Chapaleufú Indians
, the team of the four Heguy brothers that marked an era in Argentine polo, won the Palermo Open six times and one of them was that Open 95, as it had been intimately sworn to which we once called “The Musketeer of the goodness”. The trait that most characterized Gonzalo: kindness. That would be the last conquest of the Argentine for him. He played two more finals (96 and 97), married María Jesús Resta and had a daughter: Jesusita. On Thursday April 6, 2000, in an accident on an internal road of Intendente Alvear, in La Pampa, he died at the age of 35. It was a handicap 10. He was one of the best players in the world.
But above all, he was an unforgettable person.
He would grab his tantrums sometimes, but he knew how to listen and apologize if necessary. He laughed more naturally than the brothers. And I thought about the other a lot. One day he was driving accompanied by an aunt (Monica), who suddenly noticed that Gonzalo narrowed one of his eyes at times. He asked if anything was wrong with his sight. “No aunt, do not panic. I want to know nothing more what Horacito feels to understand even more his pain. I want to feel it and not imagine it,” he replied.
That Chapaleufú team had its history. He had debuted in 1983, when the twins were 19 years old and playing with their father, Horacio Antonio (19 titles in Palermo) and Uncle Alberto Pedro. Formation that earned people’s affection for their style, for their horses, for the fights they starred on the court: discussions without filter. Brothers who fight, nothing strange in short.
Everyone was talking about the goals and the ability of
Baptist
of the genius of
frames
, of the organizational and leadership capacity of Horacito. Gonzalo was No. 2, the position that shines the least on the court.
It was always the engine of the team
. I had a mare, the
Billionaire
, very rustic and vigorous, which wreaked havoc with rivals and played three entire 7-minute chukkers in a final. She was the ideal companion for
Marseillaise
, the remarkable mare of Horacito. He also wore for the time he rode the Cobra, Tatiana or Litigiosa. But the Billionaire was a bulldozer: rival horses bounced at the slightest touch.
Gonzalo and the Billionaire
Fate took Gonzalo’s life that morning in 2000 and Chapaleufú was never the same again. Even though the team won Palermo again in 2001 (with Mariano Aguerre wearing shirt 2 and scoring the winning goal in supplementary against La Dolfina) and then played his last final in 2004 (with Juan Martín Nero), nothing was the same. There his true value for the team was demonstrated. Although strictly speaking it was the least important thing in history behind closed doors.Gonzalo’s death would be one of the things that would change in life if he could. He doesn’t let us forget. He left his mark on people who knew him little and on people who knew him a lot
Marcos Heguy
“Gonzalo’s death would be one of the things that would change in life if he could. He is surprised. He is 20 years old and you get used to living without him, it is possible, but it was very difficult. You see Jesusita and he has things so similar to Gonzalo … He doesn’t let us forget. He left his mark on people who knew him little and on people who knew him a lot, “reflects his brother Marcos from La Pampa.
Jesusita is 22 years old, studies interior decoration and practically did not know her father. “We talk a lot with her, stories about Gonzalo come out so that she knows things about her father. She is very close to my daughter Clarita, we see each other often,” Marcos said.
Marcos was in Palm Beach when the accident occurred. That morning he slept and woke up to the call of Jesus, Gonzalo’s wife, also deceased two years ago. Since then, every time he was resting and heard the sound of a call, his expression was transformed.
“Gonzalo was the guy who united, the one who brought the family together. When what happened happened, we had something very clear: that we could play without Gonzalo, but that it was much more difficult to live without him. Capable than today, much later, I see that Chapaleufú was better than we thought. People who tell us that what we did was never seen again. We were not aware of what we were doing, “confesses Marcos.
Every season, after the Palermo Open final,
Jesusita presents the Gonzalo Heguy award for the Most Valuable Player of the match
. Last year it was up to
Pablo Mac Donough
, from La Dolfina, who when she was 10 years old saw and admired the adventures inside that Chapaleufú’s field and dreamed of raising that precious glass as well. He already did it 10 times!
Gonzalo’s most special relationship was with his twin, who recalled him two and a half years ago in an interview with
THE NATION
: “Not missing Gonzalo is difficult. Not because he was my twin brother, but because he was an extraordinary guy. Incredibly funny. Really very funny to be with him. He had joy to live and he transmitted it to you. There are not so many people like that. And that being your brother was even better because you had him closer to enjoy it, “said Horacito.
Acute, ironic and analytical in each of his expressions, on April 30, 2019, on the day of his 55th birthday, Horacito posted a photo on Instagram along with Gonzalo and the following caption: “A day like today the most good in the world. And to compensate … me. ”
Twenty years have passed since that shocking morning for Argentine polo. The game changed some rules, the cracks were consolidated and Palermo even today has its After Polo that transforms the Cathedral with music, drinks and dancing after the games. The image of that seasoned musketeer with the white and red t-shirt out of the pants, helmet of the same colors and the yellow bandages of those horses that he made to turn around on the legs like few others in that baptismal 1983, is still drawing in every corner of the court 1. Just like your smile.