On May 3rd, 2007, little Maddie, then three years old, disappeared from her parents' Portuguese holiday home in Praia da Luz - a huge search operation followed that remains unsuccessful to this day. Now the British Interior Ministry threatens to suspend further funds in order to continue future investigation. With their back against the wall, Maddie's parents speak out once more during a desperate interview shortly after the first wave of sad news.
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Gerald McCann: "we couldn't eat or sleep"
Speaking with the BBC, Maddie's father, Gerry McCann, opens up like he never had before for the first time. Speaking in Pearl: Two Fathers, Two Daughters, the 50-year-old Gerald, who is a renowned consultant cardiologist, reveals that he has been suffering from severe depression ever since the disappearance of his daughter but has dealt with it through regular treatment.
Shortly after his daughter seemed to vanish from their holiday home, Maddie's father recounts: "We were at the center of a tidal wave that affected all our family and friends when they heard the news," he remarks somberly. "We could neither eat nor sleep; it was like a disease of fear and anxiety that manifested in physical symptoms, and we only cried. The grief and the pain we had to endure is unimaginable."
"I can't live on like this for another fifteen years"
McCann further explains that the worst thing he faced was when the police suspected him and his wife of harming their daughter: "It was impossible and unbearable, and the whole trip was like a horror movie, a nightmare."
He admits that he has completely lost confidence in the Portuguese police: "There was an orchestrated media campaign that made us look guilty and had a big impact on us. We fought so hard that it was very difficult to support each other."
The 50-year-old cardiologist remains hopeful for the future: "My instinctive reaction is that we will meet again someday. I don't want her to be dead. It's a terrible thing to say and it sounds cold, but I can't live on like this for another fifteen years."
