A moved and still shocked crowd welcomed this morning, at 12.30, the coffin of Gabriele Pinna, the unfortunate 18-year-old judoka from Ghilarza who died prematurely at the San Martino hospital in Oristano due to fulminant meningitis during the night between Saturday and Sunday.
He returned “home” greeted with tears of despair by his parents, brother, girlfriend, relatives and peers from the 2006 draft. Many schoolmates from the Mariano IV high school were also present, still in disbelief at what had happened. The coffin was placed in the church of San Palmerio where the funeral chapel was set up . The parents and the parish priest Father Paolo Contini shared how it could be the right place to say goodbye to Gabriele, until the funeral which will be celebrated on Monday.
During the evening, the pilgrimage to bring comfort and closeness to the family was uninterrupted . The ancient place of worship is the symbolic place for the eighteen-year-olds of the village, as was Gabriele, where the Holy Mass of the "leva" is usually celebrated, which precedes the blessing on the occasion of the feast of the feast of Saint Anthony, when in the nearby square "sa Tuva" is lit.
Still stunned, but present, numerous athletes from the Asd Sport judo club of Abbasanta , where Gabriele Pinna was registered. They are preparing for the last farewell led by master Rosario Medde , still shocked by the tragic death of one of his best athletes. He looks at the photo of his last podium and comments emotionally: «I can still see him happy», he says, «with the medal around his neck and the certificate of regional judo champion recently won in Ruinas and which had opened the doors for him to the national championships in Puglia , where on March 29 he should have competed together with our other athlete Daniele Vaccaro of Norbello, who also qualified for the national phases. Now we will have to decide whether to participate. It would be nice to do it also to honor the memory of Gabriele who, I am sure, would have been happy. What is certain is that we will go to the funeral in our official tracksuit to pay homage to the son, the sports partner, the brother and the friend of all of us».
Meanwhile, the Hygiene and Public Health Service of the ASL 5 of Oristano confirms that the cause of death is attributable to fulminant meningitis that left no chance for the boy . It was deemed not necessary to perform an autopsy, while epidemiological investigations continue to identify the subjects who have been in contact with the boy in the last ten days and the protocol to subject close contacts to antibiotic prophylaxis .
The disease is transmitted from person to person through respiratory droplets and nasal secretions, which can be dispersed by coughing, sneezing or talking.