Alessandro’s crib, a gift to the “Del Ponte” Hospital, to save other children

Another crib, to save even more children. This was the goal that Alessandro’s parents had set themselves, after the miraculous intervention by the Neonatal Intensive Care team at the “Del Ponte” Hospital, in Varese, and the equipment they had.

It was 14 December 2012, when Alessandro was born at the end of a normal pregnancy. However, after just a few hours of life, his heart stopped as a result of perinatal asphyxia. A quick, neurovegetative process was begun. Dr Agosti, the head physician in the NICU, knew he had very few hours in which to do something; he had to reduce Alessandro’s body temperature and stop all of the biochemical events caused by the asphyxia. He picked Alessandro up and placed him into the hypothermia crib. Here, Alessandro was kept at a deep cooling temperature, for 72 hours. At the end of those hours, the recovery began, and Alessandro slowly came back to life; on New Year’s Eve, his parents were able to take him home. Today Alessandro is a lively child and the nightmare he went through is just a bad memory. However, in those dramatic hours, another child was going through the same dangerous experience. But there was only one crib, and the child had to be taken to a hospital in Como. “What we experienced during those days affected us deeply,” said his mother Anna. “We felt we had to give something in return for the love we received. And, since the crib used by Alessandro was a gift from a grandfather, we decided to donate a second hypothermia crib to the NICU.”

And so, the Pennisis began to raise funds among friends and acquaintances. Then they met the association Tincontro, who continued and expanded the fundraising campaign.

Today the crib, which cost €18,000, was brought to the “Del Ponte” Hospital, in the presence of Callisto Bravi, the Director of the “Sette Laghi” Local Health Authority, Massimo Agosti, the head physician at the NICU, and Daniele Donati, the President of Tincontro, the association that provides parents and home support staff with assistance.