‘Life is what we came here to do’, said Jô Soares after the loss of his only child

The death of Jô Soares, this Friday (5), at the age of 84, made several internet users remember emotional moments of the presenter on television. One of the most remarkable was Programa do Jô, which he recorded at Globo Studios in São Paulo after the death of his only child, Rafael, in 2014.

“I suffered the pain that is every parent’s nightmare: the loss of a child,” he lamented in front of his audience. Jô then said that her son was autistic and that she saw him as an eternal boy. “He has spent his entire life in the reality of his own world, with an adult’s body and a child’s heart and soul,” he said.

The presenter also said that Rafinha, as he affectionately called him, loved music and radio. “He had his own station at home, whose reach was the people who visited him,” he revealed. Not even on the birthday itself did the radio go off the air. “This willingness to live with enthusiasm and passion makes me very proud of my son,” he said.

Jô even shared a story that showed how he learned from his son. “Once, at a bookstore, he came to the cashier carrying a dozen books,” he said. “I was surprised and said: ‘Rafa, wait a minute, it’s a lot. No twelve, choose 6. He said: ‘Then I don’t want any’. I thought it was rude. I said: ‘How come you don’t want any?’. ‘I prefer not choose.’ ‘But why?’ ‘Because choosing is always losing’.”

“Of course, you pick one and the one you didn’t pick won’t,” observed Jo. “Today I don’t have to choose either. Since he never missed his work, I can’t miss mine either.”

Rafael Austregésilo Soares died in 2014, aged 50. He was Jô’s son with actress Teresa Austregésilo (1933-2021), to whom he was married between 1959 and 1979. “She was my companion for 20 years, and for 50 years she dedicated her life to our little son, accompanying him from cradle to the end”, he thanked.

At the farewell to the program, the presenter also reflected on human existence. “One kiss from Gordo, and life goes on,” he said, adding to his traditional catchphrase: “Life is, you know, what we do here.”