The drama of Federico, killed at the age of 24 by fibromatosis

The young man from Castello di Godego won a literary prize by recounting his illness and his attachment to life. He was studying at the University of Padua, he died in a hospital in Montebelluna

GODEGO CASTLE. He had told his attachment to life in a book that had a special mention at the literary prize of Cittadella named after Andrea Bizzotto, he wanted to become a researcher, until the end he expressed his talent by dictating words of profound poetry and beauty to his mother. On Thursday morning – in the hospital in Montebelluna – the heart of Federico Pegoraro, 24 years old, stopped beating.

He lived in Castello di Godego. The family gave their consent to the removal of organs “because Federico would have been happy to help other people smile”, explains mother Gabriella Gazzola. The young man leaves his father Giuseppe and his older brothers Matteo and Luca.

He was a brilliant student: the baccalaureate at the scientific high school of Applied Sciences, then the University in Padua, degree course in molecular microbiology. Since he was 12 years old he lived with neurofibromatosis, he spoke about it at a conference at the Bo in 2017: «I did not know this disease and I thought the only name was too strange to be known. His symptoms, however, were limiting my movements. In a short time I lost the strength in my limbs, even lifting a bowl was difficult for me ».

«He was courageous, tenacious», recalls his brother Luca, «he was a Juventus fan and a travel enthusiast. Friends have always been close to him, even with some videos in the Covid period, and have given support to our family. After a first moment of effort, Federico managed to take many revenge ». In his book “Sunshine, there is still music to my ears” he wrote: “If we are in difficulty we must be stronger than the problems themselves, solutions often exist. Whether they are imaginary or real, sometimes it doesn’t matter ».

He believed in science and in the strength of literature: “Writing has remained a faithful ally: it pushed me to write a novel that could tell my story, in an attempt to be able to help all those people who are about to start that path that I have faced “.

Al Bo – in front of world experts in neurosurgery and the families of young patients – had launched an appeal: «I invite you to establish a fruitful dialogue with doctors in the hope of helping that process of seeking cures for diseases that do not yet seem to have any. We participate, as far as possible, in these researches. We must not fear those monsters that seem to grip our days ». The funeral will be celebrated on Monday at 3 pm in the church of Castello di Godego.