Two hearts and two birthdays. One when he was born, 61 years agoand one when he was reborn thanks to the heart transplanton April 27, 1995. The story of could be summarized thus Gaetano Gaspariresident in San Zeno di Montagna (Verona), one of the longest-lived heart transplant recipients in Italy.
The transplant
Gaspari’s first life changed in 1994 when, at just 31 years old, he discovered that he was suffering from a dilated cardiomyopathya condition that occurs when the cardiac cavity it enlarges following a loss of strength of the heart muscle and the organ’s ability to pump blood is reduced. «The doctors told me that I could only live another year», Gaspari told the Verona newspaper L’Arena. The only possible solution was heart transplant, but the first operation is not successful due to incompatibility of the donor organ. And it is in this moment that Gaspari’s life intersects with that of Luca, resident of Levico Terme. Luca was a twenty-two years old who was carrying out his year of military service in the Trento fire station. April 26, 1995, while carrying out a rescue operation with his team, dies due to a stroke. A few hours later, the carabinieri are at Gaspari’s house to tell him that a compatible heart was waiting for him at the Borgo Trento hospital. The operation takes place between 26 and 27 April and Gaspari wakes up after three days, reborn and with a different heart.
The book and the Path
«The first sensation was hearing a new, healthy and strong heartbeat, so intense that it almost made it difficult for me to sleep – recalls Gaspari -. I was no longer used to a heart so vigorous that it beat to the rhythm of life.” Thanks to the operation, Gaspari is reborn, lives a normal life and sees his two daughters grow up. All thanks to Luca’s heart, but he doesn’t know this. Only after a few years of research does he manage to get it in contact with the parents of the twenty-two-year-old firefighter. «It was an emotional moment – explains Gaspari -. Since then a deep friendship has been born between us. For them it’s like feeling a part of their child still living in me». Now Gaspari is retired, he is a member of Aido (Italian Association of Organ Donors) and brings his testimony to schools to make his experience known to the younger generations too. Furthermore, his story will soon be included in a book that will contain the experiences of other people who have suffered a organ transplant. But it doesn’t end there: for his twenty-ninth second birthday, Gaspari will make the Camino de Santiago de Compostela: «It will be a special pilgrimage to celebrate my rebirth».
Tags: Surviving heart firefighter years transplant leaves Santiago lives
