Italian Priest Dies after Selflessly Giving up His Ventilator for Younger Coronavirus Patient

Many are the sacrifices, big and small, that humanity will have to make in order to overcome the current health crisis caused by the covid-19 outbreak, and stories like this give us the courage to go on and being our best selves.

A 72-year-old Italian priest from the city of Bergamo, currently the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak and one of the worst stricken regions in this pandemic, made one last act of kindness and selflessness before dying of covid-19.

Don Giuseppe Berardelli was the archpriest at the parish of San Giovanni Battista in the village of Cansigo, where he had served since his appointment in 2006, and he was locally loved before his death made headlines on March 15.

Berardelli passed away that day after doing the ultimate sacrifice, choosing to give a younger person an opportunity to fight the disease while the hospital staff was making their biggest effort to keep the clergyman alive.

The parish managed to purchase a respirator as a last resource to help Berardelli recovered, but once the instrument was available for him to use, he chose to let a younger patient use it, which cost him his life.

Berardelli is remembered as a cheerful personality that believed in doing good beyond any religious dogma, and apart from his signature red motorcycle, he was also known for his activism and his passion for helping others.

60 PRIEST HAVE DIED IN ITALY

With his passing, Berardelli adds to the at least 60 priests that have lost their lives in the European country since the coronavirus hit the region. At least 16 of these priests were reportedly from Berardelli’s diocese.

Italy has been struggling with the deadliest coronavirus surge on the planet, having registered more deaths due to the pandemic that China, sending a warning to the rest of the world so we can learn from their mistakes in handling the crisis.

While it is too early to jump to conclusions, Italy might be on its way to finally halt the death toll of covid-19 among its population, with the country having recorded a smaller day-to-day increase in coronavirus positives for the second day in a row.

’’We need more consecutive results to confirm the trend, to be more certain that we are in a favorable situation,” Italian health official Silvio Busaferro cautiously told New York Post.

We at AmoMama do our best to give you the most updated news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, but the situation is constantly changing. We encourage readers to refer to the online updates from CDC, WHO, or Local Health Departments to stay updated. Take care!