The heart attack left him no way out, the dog kept him awake for several hours until the arrival of the Alpine and speological rescue in Umbria who, together with the 118 operators, reached the inaccessible location inside a wood in the hamlet of Melaci between Buoncquiring and Polino (Terni). The man, Ernesto DiSalvatore 77 years old, on Sunday afternoon he had gone into the dense bush holding his rifle alongside his beloved dog. Suddenly he collapsed to the ground and the animal remained to watch over him until the rescuers arrived who had to work hard to get to the place.
The dog watched over him for several hours and when the rescuers reached him began to growl, without knowing to go away. Eventually, however, he was lovingly persuaded to walk away from his master, and they were able to lend first aid but there was nothing to be done. Guido Paparelli is a resident of Buoncquiring and a friend of Ernesto: «I don't know exactly if he was going hunting or looking after his mules. Certainly, however, his dog watched over him and tried not to let anyone get near. '
Ernesto was a person well liked by everyone and a lover of hunting. It is not excluded that the heart attack caught him just as he was climbing a slope to discover game. A former employee of the post office, he was well known in the town and beyond. The carabinieri of the local station also intervened on the spot - coordinated by the commander Antonio Melchiorri - for the investigations of the case. The body was immediately returned to the family for the celebration of the funeral rite (The messenger).