from Bologna to its Africa thanks to crowdfunding- Corriere.it

We did it. We arrived: the trip went well. Thank you very much for everything. I really hope to see you again. Jerreh, the 24-year-old boy from Gambia, who came to Italy alone six years ago, still a minor and without knowing anyone, he succeeded: he managed to return to his city, Banjul, the capital, after a journey of more than ten hours. he left Bologna where he was able to show what he was made of, by taking a course in masonry, graduating and getting hired by an employer who loves him for the sake of his soul. In the room of the Palliative Care Center of the Bellaria Hospital in Bologna, where Jerreh Krubally was hospitalized until yesterday for a liver tumor with various metastasesthere was also Luigi Laturraca, the boy’s employer, as well as Momodou, Jerreh’s 42-year-old brother, Dr. Danila Valenti, the principal of the Palliative Care Center, and nurse Stefania Pastorello.

initiative

There was also Chiara Pasquato, from the Provincial Center for Adult Education (CPIA) in Padua, who pulled the strings of this very complicated adventure for various reasons. Chiara learned the story of Jerreh and his illness after it was told to her by Momodou, a storekeeper in Padua: Chiara, the doctors in Bologna were sincere: they told me that they had tried them all and that there was nothing more to do for Jerreh. Jerreh himself expressed this wish to his brother a few days ago: Take me home: I don’t want to die here. Since then, a race against time has begun to be able to recover a sum sufficient to cover the cost of the flight to Gambia., and above all to allow medical assistance with all the necessary treatments. A fundraiser was opened on the “GoFundMe” platform, with the title, Take Me Home: We Bring Jerreh Home, which exceeded the required amount by only 12,000 euros.

Travel

Only that he was late in arriving the ok from the airline Royal Air Maroc who should have accompanied Jerreh to his Banjul (Several technical and bureaucratic problems related to Jerreh’s health security, recalls Chiara). Then, last Friday, a phone call from Chiara to Momodou: We have the tickets. We leave on Sunday evening from Malpensa, stopover in Casablanca, then direct to Banjul. It seems that Momodou, who for 48 hours in a row never left his brother’s room, didn’t want to believe it, there had been too much delay and disappointment. Instead, on Saturday afternoon, departure. Jerreh gets into the ambulance that accompanied him to Malpensa airport. With him were his brother and nurse Stefania, who didn’t leave him alone for a second.

The messages

They told me that the most demanding part of the trip was the ambulance ride from Bologna to Malpensa: Jerreh is in a lot of pain and every little movement hurts him.. I saw him tense, very tired, when he got into the ambulance. But as soon as he was on the plane, they sent me a picture with him smiling and I immediately felt relieved, recalls Pasquato, who adds: impressive how many people stepped up to bring Jerreh home. The emergency department, for example, was responsible for hiring the nurse Pastorello, in order to guarantee assistance to the boy. The last photo of a story that never ends, the intense embrace of Jerreh as they carry him on a stretcher from the ambulance to the plane. He was making the victory sign with his fingers. Then he said with a smile: we will see each other again. I am on.