A death that needs to be clarified. Giovanni Carta, a Nuoro native who had been living in Ottava for some time, died at the age of 91 last Thursday, November 13th, in the geriatrics ward of the Santissima Annunziata hospital, following a hospital stay that began Saturday, November 8th. "We took him to the emergency room," says Ivan, one of his three sons, "because he was vomiting and having intestinal problems. We pointed out that he suffered from dementia, even though he was independent and walked for long periods every day." For this reason, the medical staff had them sign a release allowing the staff to tie him up. The next day, his relatives were informed over the phone that a CT scan had revealed a hematoma on the elderly man's brain, and the medical staff asked if he had fallen at home, but they were told no. "We finally got to see him in person, and he had bruises on his face and scratches on his arms. We were told they were caused by him hitting his head on the edge of the stretcher."
The complaint
This version doesn't convince his children, who believe Carta actually fell from the gurney, a hypothesis denied by the staff. "They admitted him to the geriatric ward," Ivan continues. "There, I heard someone say exactly what we were saying." Meanwhile, the 91-year-old's condition worsens; he's having difficulty speaking, his tongue is thick, and the bruise has spread across much of his face, while the visible wound on his eyebrow remains. At that point, his other brother, Marco, reports the incident to the police, stating, among other things, that his father appears to be in a vegetative state, no longer able to stand. "He was complaining of pain, and at our insistence," Ivan recalls, "they took an X-ray and discovered he had two broken vertebrae." For his son, such an injury is incompatible with the alleged impact on the edge of the bed, especially given the symptoms his father was displaying. Unfortunately, he died six days after being admitted to the hospital. «They called us at dawn saying that “Mr. Giovanni was no longer breathing”».
The investigations
But the Public Prosecutor's Office, and prosecutor Erica Angioni, want answers from that body, and have therefore decided to seize the medical records and order an autopsy to be performed in the coming days. The Carabinieri are leading the investigation, and it appears they have also acquired footage from the video surveillance cameras. "We want to shed light on this," Ivan concludes, "and if something went wrong, we don't want it to happen again."
