Anselmo Ennio Farina -- Italy

Age: 47

Transplant: Heart, 1990

Hometown: Milan, Italy

Events:

Anselmo's Story: "Initials: R.M., and another small indication, 39 years old. The same age as mine; curious coincidence," Anselmo Farina tells an interviewer. "About my donor, a woman, I know just that. It was pure chance that my wife discovered the above information, skimming through the case history out of the intensive care. Three small indications that most people would have forgotten but became an obsession for me. As obsession that has haunted me for long, without any reason. After the transplantation, I started feeling the need [to look] for her at any rate. She must not be so far. The heart that was put inside of me didn't arrive by helicopter. It was explanted in the operating theatre next to mine, some hours before. She couldn't have lived in another town. For a long time, I have wandered through cemeteries, I have combed the whole province, gripping a bunch of flowers. With my heart in my mouth, I looked for those initials, R.M., in every gravestone. And the date: the day of my transplantation. I had to find her to bring her a friendly word, a flower, since I was sure she had spent her last days lonely, deserted by everyone. Yes, I know it was an absurd idea. Someone should have surely been by her, someone who had permitted the transplantation. And yet I couldn't free myself from that idea: that she needed me, just as I had needed her. And in the evening, before falling asleep, I tried to imagine her: blond or dark-haired, perhaps a bit small, smiling. I spoke to her, in a close, deep dialogue, as the one of prayers. Today it's different. Doctors helped me to rationalize, to see things at a distance. But I keep on feeling a strong bond to this person. Her destiny has crossed mine, giving me life. A rich and intense life: thanks to her, I will attend the Athletic Worldwide Championship for the transplanted at Sidney. Of course, Dr. Barnhard says my heart is just a pump, a mechanic organ, but I think it is something more: that's why I like saying I have a woman more in my heart now."

My Message to the World: I will be forever grateful to my donor because this present [gave] me and my family the possibility of many years of life.

 

Last modified: 11 May 2000