Skater Who Lost Both Parents In D.C. Plane Crash Reveals Mom’s Final Words To Him

Transcript

00:00Their love...

00:04Their love and their care was evident in each stage of my life. They were always like superheroes to me.

00:12Maksim Naumov, the son of 1984 figure skating world champions

00:17Zheshkenia Zhenya Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, is

00:20speaking out on the tragic passing of both his parents in the American Airlines DC plane crash.

00:25The 23 year old sat down with Craig Melvin during the March 27th episode of the Today Show for an emotional interview in which he

00:31shared heartbreaking details about the January tragedy where a U.S.

00:34Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines regional jet, including that his parents had originally booked a different flight.

00:40My mom let me know that

00:42they're switching flights and that if I could pick them up, my mom always texts me and calls me as soon as they land.

00:49When asked by the NBC News anchor how it feels to read his parents last social media post praising his Nationals performance,

00:56the skater revealed it coincided with what his mother's final words were to him.

01:01Well, it was actually the last thing that they said.

01:05It's actually my mom that called me and she said, hey, I just I just want you to know that we love you

01:12and we're proud of you. It means

01:15everything to me. I mean, my whole life, a part of it was to make them proud.

01:22Max, who described his parents as beautiful people and incredibly kind,

01:26also shared how he moves forward despite such an unimaginable loss. The only way out is through.

01:34There's no other way.

01:36I don't have the

01:38strength or the passion or the drive

01:43or the dedication of one person anymore. It's three people.

01:49The 23-year-old told the Today Show host how skating differs for him now,

01:52sharing that he used to have more of a strict regimen and now he feels more free on the ice.

01:56He later commented on his emotional performance during the recent Legacy on Ice event, which paid tribute to the victims of the tragedy,

02:02many of whom were part of the figure skating community.

02:06You fall to your knees and you've got

02:0915,000 people

02:11applauding and you're on the ice for more than a minute. What was going through your mind at that point?

02:16What are you thinking? I skated truly, like from my heart, like genuinely. I wasn't thinking about the steps.

02:21I wasn't thinking about the jumps or the spins or anything like that. I just let my body go and

02:28I've never felt that before. I just had such an overwhelming emotion of love in that moment.

02:35It looked like you were mouthing something at one point while you were on the ice.

02:39What were you saying? I just kept saying at the De La Voz, which means

02:43this is for you and

02:47mom and dad, I love you.

02:50As Max contemplates his professional skating future, including possibly the Winter Olympics,

02:54he shared just how much his parents will always mean to him. I would not be the person I am today without them.

03:02Their love,

03:06their love and their care.

03:08It was evident in each stage of my life.

03:11They were always like superheroes to me.