Imola, 28 April 2024 – “A drama which was consumed in the seathat thing that he loved the most“. The mayor of Giglio Island, Sergio Ortelli, his voice is breaking. He can’t understand it death of Raffaele Gulmanelli. “A huge tragedy, leaving like this, at 36 years old”, she continues. The hamlet of Giglio Campese was now the second home of the diving instructor from Imola. “He was very well known to all of us, he had been coming here with his family for many years. The community is truly shocked.”
Home in Campese, many friends, the sea just a stone’s throw away, summer is upon us. And then that long weekend on April 25th to have fun in the water, including free diving, fishing trips and relaxation. But then that damned Friday. Raffaele does not return to shore and they have had no news of him for several hours. Therefore the family members raise the alarm. However, the body was seen floating in the sea in the late afternoon and the coast guard patrol boat recovered it near Capel Rosso. But, unfortunately, there is nothing to be done.
“Now the island for his entire familywhich meant celebration and holiday, it will taste like pain and darkness, a sad page. I express all my condolences”, concludes Ortelli. Raffaele was a great connoisseur of those waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea and of the province of Grosseto. Spearfishing (without the aid of cylinders, ed.), diving instructor at the Imolamare association and also social worker for the ASL addiction service. Two roles covered with great passion and commitment. So much so that his colleagues immediately expressed their sympathy to his family. “You had recently joined the Imolamare family and immediately your enthusiasm and desire to do won us over. We are shocked by what happened right there, on the Giglio Island that you loved so much, doing what you loved most. he liked freediving.” “The management and the department of mental health and pathological addictions of the ASL of Imola express their condolences. Raffaele had been working at SerD for about two and a half years and it’s remembered by colleagues for his professionalism and the kind and sociable character, which also made him popular with patients. Deepest condolences to the family.”
A pain which was also joined by mayor of Imola, Marco Panieri: “The tragedy affects me deeply and represents painful news. For some time he had been part of the Imolamare sports club which organizes numerous freediving and diving courses. His father himself had been the founder of Imola Sub in the late 1970s, with great foresight. Even recently they were collaborating together on initiatives in the city and on a book about the sea. His passing is a great loss for all of us. I extend my sympathy to his parents, family and loved ones, as well as the Imolamare association.”
A condolence which also comes from diving associations on the Giglio Island. “He has been coming here since he was little, I have divers from the same group as him, what a disappointment”, he says Aldo Baffigi of Deep Blue Diving College. And then Francesca Lorito of ZeroMeno Diving Center: “Raffa (also Gulma for many friends) was a golden boy, always with a smile and kind. We are all shocked, there are no words, but a lot of sadness and anger. We were all proud of many of his diving. We saw him at sea, on the dinghy and sometimes he invited us home with what he caught.
Leaves his sister Matilde Cleliathe mother Loretta and the father Giampaolo. Yesterday morning the body was taken to the forensic medicine department of the Grosseto hospital for all the necessary investigations, on the orders of the magistrate and the medical examiner. The dynamics of death need to be clarified: illness, heart attack or drowning are the leads. Then, next week, the body should be returned to Imola. The funeral it will be followed by the Imolese Funeral Agency of Santandrea and Scardovi.
