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My Mum Was Wonder Woman, But Even Superheroes Die

A cautionary tale of selflessness becoming one’s achilles heel…

Attila Vágó
7 min readFeb 11, 2025
Mum and I in September 2022. Photo by author.

Flying comes quite naturally to me. I love airplanes, and I love airports. I always show up far too early, but I love hanging out with thousands of other folks going somewhere far enough to warrant flying. I know airplanes. I know everything that can go wrong. I know not to worry if an engine fails, or if I see “duct-tape” being applied to the wing shortly before takeoff. I know the safety briefing by heart. There is this line that stayed with me since my first-ever flight at the age of 21 from Budapest to London.

Place the mask over your mouth and nose, like this. Pull the strap to tighten it. If you are traveling with children, make sure that your own mask is on first before helping your children. — standard airline safety briefing

To me, it’s the perfect example of pragmatism over instinct. Humans will want to protect other humans they care about. That’s not just in fiction. Not a just a story we tell of superheroes in comic-books. My mom did that. My mum protected and cared for my dad more than she cared about herself.

Dad was diagnosed pretty early on — right about the time he got engaged to my mum — with neurofibromatosis, known also as NF1 or Recklinghausen syndrome. This…

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Attila Vágó
Attila Vágó

Written by Attila Vágó

Staff software engineer, tech writer, author and opinionated human. LEGO and Apple fan. Accessibility advocate. Life enthusiast. Living in Dublin, Ireland. ☘️

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