"Offer my dose to her": at 91 years old he gives his Covid vaccine to the desperate mother of a disabled person
With the start of mass vaccination around the world to counter the infection from Covid-19 and to make sure that we can return to normal everyday life as soon as possible, there are millions of requests from desperate mothers who would like to ask the governments of their respective nations to get the vaccine as soon as possible so as not to bring home infection. Many of these mothers are carers for children or close family members with very serious pathologies: if the virus comes into the home, there could be catastrophic consequences.
The protagonist of this extraordinary story is called Giancarlo Dell’Amico, he is 91 years old and lives in the city of Carrara, in Italy. Giancarlo's age automatically brought him into the very first group of Italian citizens who would have benefited from the first doses of the anti-Covid vaccine, yet, after reading in a newspaper the desperate cry from the mother of a disabled boy who asked the authorities if she could receive a dose of vaccine to save her son's life, the man was moved:
"It happened that the other day that I read in the newspaper La Nazione, the desperate appeal from this mother who has a disabled child. He cannot get the vaccine for medical reasons and she begged to be able to take it to avoid the risk of catching the virus and infecting her child who could die. So I called the newspaper and offered myself: I have a reservation to be vaccinated on March 4th, tell her that she can come with me, we will wait till the end and when my turn comes I'll explain to the doctor that they should give my dose to her. It seemed like a simple and feasible solution, but no, they say that the rules forbid it."
US Secretary of Defense/Wikimedia
Obviously, the vaccination bureaucracy could not allow the queue to be "skipped" and a dose of vaccine assigned to a specific citizen who is not in the range chosen by the Government, yet Giancarlo's great generosity and empathy have ensured that local politicians, as well as the Ministry for Disability, have been moved to reconsider the situation of these worried and desperate parents. Starting from 4th March in Italy, extremely vulnerable people and their caregivers will be able to book an appointment to get the anti-Covid vaccine.
And it's also thanks to Giancarlo's symbolic gesture. Giancarlo, who at 91 is now considered a hero: "If we can't do our best to protect the weakest in the world, what can we do? I'll tell you with an example: if you're full, and you have a sandwich and there is a hungry child, what are you doing? Won't you give it to him? I did something like this. In May I turn 91, I'm fine, I'm full of life, I'm not afraid and it costs me nothing to wait a little longer. Why not offer my vaccine to a desperate mom who needs it more than me? That's all, I haven't done anything special and please don't make me a hero. I did what anyone should do. "
The world desperately needs kind and modest human beings like Giancarlo, today more than ever!
