In Evinochori, near Mesolongi, surrounded by her family and the people who had known her since she was a little girl, Goggo Mastrokosta’s final journey came to an end. Residents welcomed her back with deep respect for the woman who, for years, had shown courage, strength, and dignity through the way she lived her life. Her final resting place is the same place where she took her first steps and dreamed her first dreams before leaving to pursue them. People stood silently along the road leading to the chapel and her burial site, many in tears, bowing their heads as they listened to her mother’s heartbreaking cries. Repeating “ah” over and over, her mother welcomed her daughter’s body saying, “Welcome, my star, welcome my flower.” Along with the mournful church bells, those were the only sounds that could be heard. After the burial, when everyone had left, her husband, Traianos Dellas, remained alone by her grave for a long time.

@protothema.gr ❗️Σε κλίμα βαθιάς συγκίνησης πραγματοποιήθηκε η κηδεία της Γωγώς Μαστροκώστα, με την 18χρονη κόρη της, Βικτώρια, να λυγίζει τους πάντες εκφωνώντας τον επικήδειο λόγο για τη μητέρα της. ◾️Με τρεμάμενη φωνή και εμφανώς φορτισμένη συναισθηματικά, η νεαρή κοπέλα αποχαιρέτησε τη μητέρα της με λόγια αγάπης και ευγνωμοσύνης, περιγράφοντας τη γυναίκα που, όπως είπε, «έζησε τη ζωή της με χαμόγελο και περηφάνια». #protothema #greektiktok #tiktokgreece #news ♬ πρωτότυπος ήχος – protothema.gr

Earlier, Dellas and their only daughter, Viktoria, had said goodbye to Goggo not as a woman who “lost her battle,” but as a true fighter in life. Goggo Mastrokosta passed away at the age of 56. On the second day after Viktoria’s birth, she had learned she had cancer, and she had once confessed that her greatest fear was whether she would live to see her daughter grow up. Viktoria, now a young woman who grew up surrounded by her mother’s endless love, held tightly to her father’s hand during the funeral service. Speaking afterward, she said that her parents taught her what love and values truly mean, but she refused to say goodbye to her mother.

“My mother lived her life with a smile and pride. She loved deeply, gave strength to each of us, and fought with a smile, not with fear. You taught me to love, to respect, and to care about others. Together with my father, you showed me what values mean. Now I know you will always be with me,” Viktoria said emotionally. She ended her tribute with the words: “If angels exist, mine is you. And if love exists, you are the only one. I love you, mom. I’m not saying goodbye because you will always live inside me.”

Traianos Dellas, surrounded by relatives, friends, former teammates, and companions who stood by him during the hardest moment of his life, spoke about “his angel” and “his love.” He described a particularly painful moment from her illness, recalling when, during his 50th birthday celebration at the hospital, she was suddenly taken to intensive care.

“My angel, my love — that’s what you called me everywhere, your guardian angel. But when I was left alone in the hospital room after they took you to the ICU, everything suddenly became clear to me. You were the angel, not me. You came into my life to teach me things,” he said.

He continued by describing the life they built together: “All these years I lived the life I had imagined. We were together, holding each other through easy times, difficult times, and very difficult times. I never left you, not for a moment. Every time you called ‘Trai,’ I was there beside you. The beautiful moments will become memories, but even the hardest moments will become lessons.”

Closing his emotional farewell, he said: “Rest now, my love, because you became very tired. Fly high, far away from every illness, every envy, every cruelty of this world. Wherever you are, know that all our love will reach you. If I had known what game I was getting into, I still would have come to you again and again. I would fall in love with you all over again.”

He ended with a message to everyone attending: “Love each other while you can. We wanted to love each other more, to hug each other more, but unfortunately we couldn’t. She was a fighter — she never bent. And I feel so small compared to what she taught us and what she taught our daughter.”

The funeral service for Goggo Mastrokosta was held at the Holy Trinity Church in Elliniko, attended by hundreds of people from the worlds of sports and entertainment, as well as relatives and close friends of the Mastrokosta–Dellas family.