Former professional Pierino Gavazzi, is struggling for his life at the San Rocco Clinical Institute in Ome according to his son Mattia.
“On Monday March 16 we called the ambulance,” Mattia told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “They took him to Ome. He was taken at 4.30 and entered the clinic at nearly 11.00 because there were three other ambulances in front of his. He remained there for several hours, attached to oxygen. Then the swab: coronavirus positive. Dad is struggling, I can feel his trouble in the few seconds in I can talk to him. As if he were going uphill with Francesco Moser, trying not to get dropped.”
Pierino won the 1980 edition of Milan-San Remo, in addition to the Italian National Road Race Championship on three occasions (1978, 1982, 1988), four stages of the Giro d’Italia and Milano–Torino (1978). His son Mattia also raced professionally between 2006 and 2016 for teams including Colnago–CSF Inox and Androni Giocattoli–Venezuela.
“I have the impression that the virus in this area is not sparing any family and we receive phone calls that prove it, telling us of the mourning. An apocalypse. And the siren of the passing ambulances has almost become a background. Two already this morning, and if I listen, another one is passing right now.”
“We are experiencing dramatic moments. On Wednesday evening at 10, a doctor called and told us that his lung situation had worsened significantly, that Dad was lying on his side in bed, that he was struggling a lot. A very critical situation, he did not hide from us that we should be prepared for the worst.”
“The next morning we heard from Dad, then they put his helmet on so that he could have more oxygen. We have some telephone contact, albeit short. He told my mother to be calm. There is no doubt that he is fatigued, but he has no pain. A dear friend of ours told me that all is not lost. I also feel that he has not lost the desire to fight. This is fundamental, dad knows the effort and knows how to grit his teeth.”
