Ravenna, Italy
 Father
Pietro Gandolfi is the Port Chaplain to the Italian port of
Ravenna. He describes how he and his team nursed a sick
seafarer back to health.
“The port chaplain and his team have a duty to those
seafarers who have the misfortune to be taken to hospital.
Stella Maris Ravenna has had its share of day-to-day care of
seafarers. The most recent case was in July, for an Indian
seafarer, Mr Warren Rebelo, from the ship Star Sea.
He was taken to Santa Maria Delle Croci hospital with
severe pneumonia. After a five day struggle for his life, he
was saved. “A miracle” the doctors said. But, with all the
medication prescribed to him, he lost his memory and his
appetite and his weight fell to 35kg. Despite my repeated
offers, he refused to take food.
Eventually, having considered every other possibility, I
thought that maybe chocolate would ease the situation. Well,
after several attempts, he opened his mouth to swallow his
first “Baci Perugina”. The plan had worked beautifully. Next
I tried Indian take-aways which I bought from a restaurant
near the hospital. But this solution did not last long and
was not at all satisfactory.
I was becoming seriously worried. I explained the matter
to his doctors who were not fully aware of the situation.
For a while we were at a loss and then I thought of another
solution: those products with a high vitamin content on sale
in pharmacies for people with health problems. Luckily, they
were also available in the hospital.
This alternative “treatment” was begun immediately,
repeated three times a day. At last we noticed a change as
he began to gain weight. I was lucky enough to find a
Canadian lady, Gail Carter, who was willing to give me a
hand. It was necessary for someone to be there every day
during mealtimes to encourage the seafarer to eat. We looked
after him in this way for more than a month. And thus, our
friend Warren returned home, safe and well.”
Photograph: Fr Pietro with seafarer Warren Rebelo |