Thiago Osorio Cortes: ‘He was my fiance, but he was my best friend as well’

Persistence. Patience. Consistency. These were the words Brazilian-born Thiago Osorio Cortes (28) had tattooed in Portuguese on his upper left arm. These were the principles he lived his life by.

These words lay unseen under his Deliveroo uniform after he was struck by a car on Monday at Dublin’s North Wall Quay; a car that did not stop. Gardaí believe they have identified the driver and the investigation continues.

The catastrophic impact of the injuries Cortes sustained led to his life-support machine being turned off in the Mater Hospital on Wednesday. His fellow Brazilian Teresa Dantas was present for this sad moment. She was his fiancee of almost six months.

“I met Thiago when we were both 11 at school,” she says by phone, struggling to remain composed as friends supported her in the background. “We were in the same class for a year, and then he moved to another city, but we kept in touch.”

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The pair would have been together for seven years in November. It was Cortes who suggested that they move to Ireland.

“We both had a really good life in Brazil, but Thiago wanted to travel and see the world. He knew that being in Europe would make it easier to travel than being in Brazil. There were opportunities here we did not have in Brazil,” Dantas says.

Cortes enrolled in the Erin School of English on Dame Street in 2018 and completed his studies there. The couple travelled on holiday to France, Portugal and Spain. Everywhere they went, they made a side-trip to a football stadium as Cortes loved sport, especially football.

He had two additional tattoos on his leg and wrist: the name Vasco, the Brazilian team he supported, and its emblem. He sometimes travelled alone to watch football matches, visiting England, Italy and Germany.

Dantas was surprised by how easily Cortes adapted to the cooler weather in Ireland. “He really liked it,” she says.

The couple lived in Portobello, where they had many friends.

“He was so loyal to his friends and always by their side. He stood up for the ones he loved every time. Our friends became like a family. I think it is important to reinforce how much of a friend he was to everyone. He was my fiance, but he was my best friend as well, above all else.”

They went home to Brazil together at Christmas to visit family, and stayed there until the end of January. On March 11th, Dantas turned 28 and, unbeknownst to her, Cortes had been back and forth to a jeweller, trying to choose the engagement ring he thought she would love the most.

Over dinner in The Ivy restaurant in Dublin on her birthday, Cortes presented the ring to Dantas

“He was shaking a lot when he asked me. He was really nervous,” she recalls, adding that this was unusual as Cortes was usually laughing and smiling.

Their engagement happened just before the Covid-19 lockdown began, and thus their marriage plans had to be put on hold.

“We were always really careful and responsible with our savings,” she says.

Cortes had taken an exam with CCT College in Dublin; a college that specialises in computing, IT, and business.

“He wanted to study IT,” she says.

A stopgap

As a stopgap, Cortes began working as a Deliveroo rider only a fortnight ago. He had been working for the organisation for “10 days or less” when he was injured on the job.

Before he left for work that day, he and Dantas ate lunch together at home.

“Thiago was an amazing cook. He loved barbecue in particular.”

He cooked the last meal they were to eat together: beef, rice and beans. Then he put on his uniform and went to work.

When he did not come home that night, Dantas kept calling his mobile. Eventually, it was answered by a stranger to her; a member of the Garda, who told her the news.

Thiago has a younger brother and his parents still live in Brazil. His father, Celso Cortes, posted a translated message on Facebook on Wednesday.

“It will be impossible to forget the day they stole from me the most precious asset...It’s hard to face this reality when it was about someone so young, with so many things still to live for,” he said.

“But life has never been fair and I will try to get attached every day to the best memories so that a little peace can invade my heart. Rest in peace my dear son.”

There are currently two Go Fund Me initiatives running to support Cortes’s fiancee and family. The ‘Justice for Thiago Cortes’ page had passed its €50,000 target as of Friday morning, while the ‘Ireland helps family repatriate Thiago Cortes’ page had raised more than €9,000.

Dantas’s mother arrives from Brazil to support her daughter this weekend. The family has not yet made a decision about where funeral will be held.