(by Marzia Apice) (ANSA) – ROME, NOV 13 – MATTIA VILLARDITA, ME AND SPIDER-MAN.
TRUE STORY OF A NORMAL SUPERHERO (Salani, pp.160 euro 15.90) ”When I wear that costume, wonderful things happen. If this magic continues, then I will continue with her”.
Impossible not to be moved in front of the big heart of Mattia Villardita, author for Salani of “I and Spider-Man”, a book in which he talks about his commitment as a volunteer in pediatric hospital wards. Mattia’s story is striking for his exceptional nature, but also because it makes us understand how much for some people (and he is one of them) doing good in a disinterested way becomes an indispensable mission. His life was not easy, due to a childhood and adolescence spent between hospital beds and various operations, yet Mattia, now almost thirty years old and with still precarious health, from this suffering has obtained the precious gift of helping the others with a kindness that is not constructed and so spontaneous as to be extraordinary. If he normally works as an employee at the port of Vado Ligure, in his free time every space is dedicated to his alter-ego, Spider-Man: the idea came to him an ordinary day thinking about when as a child, during hospitalizations, he dreamed of receive a visit from his favorite superhero. After purchasing the costume, the spark was struck: from 2018 he began to travel far and wide, first only in Liguria, his region, then gradually throughout Italy, using the myth of Spider-Man to alleviate suffering. of those who are sick, bringing a hug, a smile, a kind word and a small medal. “Having a personal background as a patient, I have seen many things, illnesses, suffering. I am a very banal employee, but what I do as Spider-Man comes out of my heart, it is a mission”, he says in an interview with ANSA. “I’m certainly not a saint, I’m a normal guy. It’s my motivation to value the costume”. How does he not get overwhelmed by the emotional load and how does he cope with the anger due to the loss of those who do not survive? “Unfortunately, the loss repeats itself, in the book I speak of Matteo, a 4-year-old boy who is no longer here: he taught me strength and courage. Once Spider-Man was my hero, today they are the children I meet “, he says,” I made a journey inside of me. Life is made up of nuances, you have to accept even those that hurt. But anger stops you, I cling to the good times. When a child dies I have no faith, and I don’t have a reason: I’m sick, I stop for a few days, put my swimsuit aside. But then every day I receive true poems of love and affection “. How does it satisfy all requests? “Holidays and permits, I have not taken holidays for three years, but by now I have become a national product”, explains Villardita with a joke, who with his story moved the pope and was appointed knight of the Republic by President Mattarella, “they say. family and friends, I do everything by myself because I don’t generate business and I can’t pay anyone “. Even the myth of her Vasco Rossi (in the book the chapters refer to the titles of the songs) had words of praise for her, and she was also successful in Tu si que vales, winning the TimVision award. “My story made a noise because stories of kindness and unconditional love are seen less and less, but if everyone dedicated themselves to others it would be better for everyone”, he continues, “I did not expect anything, what is obtained is a wonderful emotion and a pride, for me and my family “. Do you have a goal? “Leaving for a humanitarian mission in Africa and making the journey to Santiago”, she says, “and then I hope to be able to help as many people as possible. Many trust me, but I’m only a volunteer, I like being in the field”.
Would you like it if someone followed your example? “I hope that in 10-15 years, when maybe I will no longer wear the costume, I hope that some of the children I met understand why I chose to dress up as Spider-Man. I hope that a chain starts and that some of them enter the volunteering “, he concludes. “But what is more important is to respect the mission: it is not to appear, I am Spider-Man 365 days a year. At the Gaslini last week a child was waiting for me dressed as Spider-Man: who knows that when he grows up he won’t let him become a superhero. ” (HANDLE).
