A breath of air

«I am very proud of my dad, for me he is a real hero. I drew a heart that says: you are our hero. I brought it to him and he liked it. "

Speaking is Sophia Floreno, daughter of Pietro Flo¬reno, fifty-seven years old from Nichelino (TO), for years suffering from the most aggressive form of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a disease that forces him to stay in bed, to communicate through eyes and be attached to an oxygen ventilator 24 hours a day.

Its history is now known thanks to one of its ventilators, the reserve one, which in the first months of the health emergency he wanted to donate to Turin hospitals. For his daughter he is a hero, for the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella his gesture was worthy of the honor of Cavalry of the Order of Merit.

His wife Antonella, a life partner for 40 years, says: "At the beginning of the pandemic he wanted to do something for someone, because he felt almost useless. One morning I got up and he told me he wanted to lend the secondary ventilated air machinery for this virus emergency. Honestly, I was alarmed because I thought “If something happens to what you attacked 24 hours a day, how do we do it?” ».

It was not possible for Pietro to lend his respirator because the doctors forbade it, since a sudden failure of his first ventilator would have put his life at risk; however, he and his wife did not give up on the gesture: "Not being able to do this, we raised funds to get to buy a machine and donate it to the pulmonology department of Molinette in Turin".

Antonella's story ends with a very short portrait of her husband, described as a person who is always generous and ready to reach out to those in need. It is a story that teaches us how generosity has many forms and is always a breath of fresh air for both those who receive and those who give. It's not just about those with a lot of resources. It is a breath that we can all feed, no one excluded.

Roberto Lerda
NP agosto/settembre 2020