IO – National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Information and Public Relations Data Center (Pusdatinmas) Head Sutopo Purwo Nugroho has passed away in St. Stamford Modern Cancer Hospital, Guangzhou, China, on Sunday, July 7 at 02.20 local time or 1:20 WIB.
Sutopo died of lung cancer. He was diagnosed with the disease on January 17, 2018. Unfortunately, at the time of diagnosis, the cancer had already reached stage IV.
Sutopo was buried in Sasonolayu Public Cemetery in Siswodipuran, Boyolali, Central Java, on Monday morning, July 8.
“The main cause of his death was a heart attack,” said Indonesia’s consul general in Guangzhou, Gustanto to media in the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Body Cargo in Cengkareng, Sunday (7/7) night.
According to Gustanto, doctors in Guangzhou St. Stamford Modern Cancer Hospital, China, stated that he had left lung adenocarcinoma with multiple metastases.
The cancer, said Gustanto, had spread to his kidneys and other places such as his bones.
Sutopo was born in Boyolali, Central Java on October 7, 1969, and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Geography from UGM in 1993, graduating summa cum laude. Sutopo then went on to earn his masters and doctorate in Hydrology in IPB.
Sutopo left Indonesia to treat his lung cancer in Guangzhou, China on June 15, 2019.
Sutopo left his wife, Retno Utami Tulianinsih and two children, Muhammad Ivanka Rizaldy Nugroho and Muhammad Aufa Wikantyasa Nugroho.
Although going through the disease, Sutopo was always at the forefront when disasters struck Indonesia. He gave the most accurate information to the media that he could, and has once forced himself in front of the press despite being in the hospital the day before being treated with an IV drip.
Sutopo was always passionate about kindness. His quotes were always inspiring. One among them was: “Success needs love, loving all of our work,” he wrote.
Sutopo has lived by his own words. He loved and was dedicated to his work, and cancer did not stop his passion to carry out the good he did.
Farewell, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (rp)