Fatal illness: this is who was the municipal worker who died during a non-competitive march

CLAUT. The municipal worker of Cordenons Bruno Taffarel, 56, born in Udine, was crushed – Sunday 24 October – by a heart attack while participating in the Clautana, a non-competitive march.

He was engaged in a climb, as part of the 12-kilometer route (the intermediate between the three proposed by the running event at free pace and open to all: there were 1,100 members), when he was seized by an illness and slumped on the ground, near the barns of Ciol de cià stort, above the Tree village, in Claut.

The runners who arrived found him lifeless and immediately raised the alarm at the regional emergency operations room in Palmanova (Sores): the man had suffered a cardiac arrest.

«When I passed the rescuers were already there – said Dino Donat of the Cordenons runners -. It was a pretty steep climb, the gradient must have been 20% ».

At 9.30 the Sores mobilized the firefighters of Pordenone and Maniago, the helicopter of Pieve di Cadore (stationed in Belluno due to the construction site for the new helipad in Pieve), the Valcellina mountain rescue station, the carabinieri of the station by Cimolais. The firefighters immediately identified the coordinates and sent them to Palmanova.

A nurse, who participated in the march, practiced heart massage for the runner. She was assisted by two mountain rescue technicians, who supervised the race course, who rushed in after just 4 minutes.

In a few moments the defibrillator arrived and almost simultaneously the Falco da Belluno helicopter, the closest to the target. On the basis of an interregional agreement between Veneto and Fvg, for the red codes, which require timeliness, the closest helicopter for flight times is sent to the site.

The resuscitation maneuvers lasted for 40 minutes, but there was nothing to do: the medical team had to ascertain Taffarel’s death. The prosecutor Matteo Campagnaro gave the authorization for the burial.

The body, hoisted onto the helicopter with the winch, was transported downstream to the morgue. The carabinieri of Cimolais took care of the handling of all the paperwork and the delivery of personal effects to the widow.

«We are speechless», Giuseppe Netto is shaken, who first as head of the technical office and then as municipal councilor for public works in Cordenons has had the opportunity to work closely with Taffarel.

Bruno’s father was also an employee of the town hall: a family tradition. In his spare time, the 56-year-old loved to walk.

“We chatted together on Friday,” Netto recalled, expressing his condolences to the family. Proximity also felt by the mayor of Claut, Gionata Sturam.