He got lost in the storm, in the mountains of Valtellina, while he was driving the hearse carrying the body of a woman who was the victim of a road accident in Colico, and in turn risked freezing to death.
The man, a 37-year-old Sardinian employee of a funeral home in the Milan area, was saved by the Alpine Rescue Service.
The story began with the tragedy of January 2: Manuela Spargi, 56 years old, crashed her car into Lake Como, perhaps due to an incorrect manoeuvre. Resuscitation attempts were useless. The husband and a relative of the couple managed to survive and were taken to hospital.
The relatives then organized the woman's funeral in the church of San Leonardo Murialdo al Giambellino, on the outskirts of Milan. They waited for the body to arrive, hours passed and no one was able to contact the driver of the hearse. Already shocked by the 56-year-old's death, they had no information.
The 37-year-old Sardinian had taken a wrong turn, got lost in the mountains and was stuck in the snow. Perhaps he had made a detour to go and say a quick hello to his parents who live in the Bergamo area. It was they who, after hours and hours of attempted calls, gave the alarm to the police and firefighters. The hearse was in an area without cell phone coverage, the driver reached, in the midst of the storm in the Fusine area (Sondrio), a refuge almost 2,000 meters above sea level which, however, had been closed for over a month. Only from there was he able to phone Alpine Rescue who located him and rescued him by arriving on a snowmobile and quad.
He was paralyzed by the cold and had the onset of frostbite. He was taken to hospital.
The hearse with Manuela Spargi's coffin was recovered and the funeral was reorganised.
(Unioneonline/ss)
