Story By: Juan Mayes, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport
Cristiano Ronaldo has been invited to attend the wedding of this tsunami survivor after becoming his ‘mentor’ in life and promising to pay for his studies and helping him travel around Europe.
The tsunami survivor named as Martunis first became known after the Boxing Day tsunami which devastated Indonesia in 2004 and claimed the lives of over 230,000 people.
After news of his survival came to light, Portuguese superstar Ronaldo, 34, seemingly moved by Martunis’s story, who lost his mother and two siblings in the tsunami, reportedly promised to pay for his education and helped him travel to Europe.
The two have met since then and Ronaldo is said to have a mentor role in the eyes of the survivor.
After Martunis announced he had proposed to his now-fiancee Sri Wahyuni on 29th December through social media, one of his friends was keen to ask if Ronaldo would be attending the ceremony.
Martunis hinted at Ronaldo’s possible attendance to the wedding saying: “Inshallah (God willing) he will come if he is not busy.”
Local media report the couple has yet to set the date for the big day.
Martunis’s survival was considered almost “miraculous” by local media after he was found stranded on a beach after 21 days by himself wearing a Portuguese national team shirt. He was just seven years old at the time.
The Portuguese Football Federation donated a reported 40,000 EUR (34,046 GBP) to help him rebuild his home. He also met American pop-star Madonna in London after the singer invited him and his father to go sightseeing around the city.
Martunis trained with Ronaldo’s former team Sporting Lisbon for a year between 2015 and 2016 in the hopes of making his dreams of becoming a professional footballer come true but he reportedly no longer plays football.
Local media report he is currently trying out his luck as a social media personality as he often posts videos dedicated to the former Real Madrid forward and telling his own life story.
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