Sandra Voutsa, daughter of veteran Greek actor Kostas Voutsas, has paid tribute to singer Dimitris Kokotas, who died at the age of 57. Voutsa had worked as Kokotas's manager and was one of his closest friends.
Speaking about his death, she pointed to the qualities that she said made him stand out: his kindness, his love for his family, his humor and his work ethic.
A bright, radiant presence
Voutsa told the Greek outlet OK! that Kokotas was a bright, radiant person who carried a kind of light about him, and said she had always said so, not only now that he had died. She said he would smile and people would end up smiling along with him.
She described him as a great kid with real kindness, someone of good character in the fullest sense, with a deep sense of humor and real class. She called him a gentleman she could talk to for hours about any subject without him ever coming across as a know-it-all, and said he was hardworking and a good family man who adored his daughter and his wife.
Voutsa recalled that she often used to tease him about his wife, Katerina, telling him that Katerina thought she was beautiful, and that he always reacted the same way, asking why his wife would not be beautiful. She said he responded the same way every single time she made that joke.
Katerina's ordeal since the heart attack
Voutsa also spoke about the emotional state of Kokotas's wife, Katerina, stressing the support she had given him since he suffered a heart attack and the difficult fight that followed began.
She said Katerina was in an awful state, and that when the two of them had just spoken, Katerina had told her how unfair it felt that this had happened just as things seemed to be improving. According to Voutsa, Kokotas did not survive septic shock.
Voutsa said Katerina had stood by him like a rock, with no day passing without a visit to the hospital to be near him. She said Katerina had repeatedly told her, over the past two years, that she was thankful she had not gotten sick herself, since she needed to go to the hospital every day.
Voutsa said there was still no information about Kokotas's funeral, adding that further details were expected in the coming hours.
