Benito did what he wanted most until the last moment: knit hats, which he first gave to his family and friends, to the doctors who treated him and then to people with cancer so that this garment would help them overcome the cold during the winter months. .
This popular resident of La Guancha, who turned 90 in April, died on Thursday due to his advanced age and an ailment that he could not overcome. In addition to the affection of his family, he wore what he loved the most, a hat knitted by him that will always accompany him, just as I remember him to all those people who were lucky enough to meet him and share moments with him.
Benito Hernández Cruz still had many projects, some of which he had begun to materialize with the support of his daughter Ana Elia and his granddaughter Leila, his unconditional ally, and with whom he learned to crochet.
Given the passion that his grandfather had for this work, which also helped him to prevent his right hand from atrophying due to a small osteoarthritis, he suggested that he make hats and donate them to cancer patients and to all the associations that fight against a disease that that he was no stranger because his wife also suffered.
I knew that many people struggle in silence and so I wanted to help ease that pain. They started the project last year and involved citizens to donate wool and thread. Neighbors from all the municipalities got involved and achieved what was expected, that hats full of love, strength and a bit of their spark, reached the Ámate Breast Cancer Association and the AECC of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Benito earned the nickname ‘the lord of the hats’, as he is known in his municipality. It was a doctor from the Hospital del Norte where he was admitted in 2020 who baptized it that way because he gave all the staff and nurses one. He did not stop weaving, a job that had become his best therapy. Nor to laugh, because if there was something he could brag about, it was his good humor.
In the garage of his house he had his corner prepared. An armchair, a small table and entire bags in which he kept his treasures and proudly displayed when they came to visit him. There he weaved nonstop while he greeted a passing neighbor. Of course, always with a hat on.
