Selfless Priest Dies From Coronavirus After Giving Ventilator To Younger Patient - Foreign Affairs

Selfless Priest Dies From Coronavirus After Giving Ventilator To Younger Patient - Foreign Affairs - Nairaland

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Selfless Priest Dies From Coronavirus After Giving Ventilator To Younger Patient by Nobody: 7:46am On Mar 25, 2020*

Giuseppe Berardelli's parishioners knew about the shortage of ventilators as Italy battles coronavirus Covid-19 so clubbed together to buy him one

A priest who gave the ventilator his parishioners bought him after he was diagnosed with coronavirus Covid-19 to a younger patient has died.

Giuseppe Berardelli selflessly gave the life-saving piece of equipment to a complete stranger who was struggling to breathe.

The 72-year-old, who had underlying medical problems, passed away at a local hospital in Casigno, in Italy's hardest-hit Lombardy region.

The condition of the person he gave the ventilator to is not known, but younger people have a greater chance of survival if they have access to the kit.

There is huge shortage of ventilator in Italy as the country deals with thousands of new cases each day.

James Martin, a consult to the Vatican's Secretary for Communications, shared the heartbreaking news on Twitter.

Praising Giuseppe for his selfless act, he wrote: "Fr. Giuseppe Berardelli, a 72-year-old priest who gave a respirator (that his parishioners had purchased for him), to a younger patient (whom he did not know), has died from #coronavirus. "Greater love has no person..." (Jn 15:13) .

"He is a "Martyr of Charity," a saint like St. Maximilian Kolbe, who in Auschwitz volunteered to take the place of a condemned man with a family, and was killed.

"Don Giuseppe Berardelli, patron of those who suffer from coronavirus and all who care for them, pray for us!"

Italy is the hardest hit country in Europe, with the death toll climbing at a shocking rate every day.

They have been in lockdown since March 9 in a desperate bid to stop the spread of the highly contagious disease.

Yesterday, the death toll hit 6,078 after 600 more people lost their lives.

This is an 11 per cent increase but the smallest rise in numerical terms since Thursday, suggesting a clear downward trend, the head of the Civil Protection Agency said.

On Sunday, 651 people died in Italy - the scene of the world's worst outbreak.

That followed 793 on Saturday and 627 on Friday.

There are growing fears that Britain is on a similar trajectory to Italy.

The Italian government was one of a number of European countries to announce new or extended restrictions - with Germany banning public gatherings of more than two people not from the same household.