Nuoro: after two days of agony, the twelve-year-old injured in the boar hunting accident that took place in the countryside of Irgoli (NU) on Sunday morning, did not make it. The desperation of the mother when the doctors declared the absence of brain activity.
The heartbreaking scream of the mother freezes the waiting room of the intensive care unit. It is the announcement that no one would have wanted. It is 20,30 pm yesterday when all hope for Andrea, the twelve-year-old shot in the big game, goes out. The doctors of the "San Francesco" have just declared the brain dead of the boy, in a coma since Sunday.
THE AGONY He - whose name or other identifying elements we have not published so far in compliance with the rules for the protection of minors -, a pupil of the sixth grade in the schools of Furreddu, passionate about hunting like his father Nicolò and his brother Francesco, fights to the end, pulls out there was a great desire to live after that damned shot that hit him in the head on Sunday morning. His strength feeds a thin hope. But last night it all ended. Mamma Rina is always next to him. His cry of pain makes the many friends and relatives shiver who in an incessant procession alternate in the waiting room, on this side of the Reanimation door. That scream extinguishes all other voices. And in silence at that point those who can resort to prayer.
THE WAIT Yesterday opens like that of Monday: stationary conditions, always very serious. Andrea is subjected to further tests to verify brain activity. The medical checks go on until the evening response: the bullet that reaches him in the eye and stops in the brain has devastating effects. All brain activity has ceased, the situation is irreversible. At 21,30 pm the procedure for the verification of death begins and ends six hours later, at 3,30 am.
Brain death last night. The retired carabiniere, who accidentally shot himself, is now accused of manslaughter.
THE UNDERSTANDED Outside the hospital, words and controversies intersect around the dynamics of the accident and the presence of a boy in an adult context, in the countryside of San Michele, between Irgoli and Capo Comino. The key point of the story - according to the carabinieri who are conducting the investigations - is the accidental shot by Franco Paletta, investigated until last night for very serious culpable injuries and now for manslaughter. He, a 64-year-old retired carabiniere, transplanted to Irgoli for some time, assisted by the lawyer Francesco Lai, will be heard by the magistrate tomorrow. But for the investigators the picture is clear, beyond the fact that Paletta, in a state of shock, has not yet made any statements in the minutes.
THE DYNAMICS The reconstruction made by the carabinieri of the Siniscola company, led by captain Andrea Senes, coincides with the testimonies collected, including that of the boy's father. Nicolò Cadinu would have been the first to shoot - apparently a couple of shots - at the passage of perhaps a fox. Paletta was in his post, on the opposite side from that of Andrea who was next to his father. In a fraction of a second, the first shots went off, the twelve-year-old would have moved, perhaps to see if his father had hit the passing fox. And it is the cursed moment because at that moment Paletta fires the shot in that direction, convinced that he is dealing with a wild boar. Instead a bullet hits Andrea in the head.
THE TRAGEDY It is 9,30 on Sunday: a dramatic moment in an incredible event that shakes everyone, hunters of all ages and public opinion less attracted to hunting. The ordeal of the twelve-year-old begins, rescued by a helicopter, undergoing an emergency operation on the head, hospitalized in a coma in the intensive care unit. The story makes one reflect, also because in Sardinia in the hunting expeditions of the last three years there are nine fatal accidents.
Marilena Orunesu
Source: The Sardinian Union
November 14, 2012