On the occasion of the testimony of the mother of Sammy Basso inside the meeting of young Italians in St. Peter’s Square, we republish the interview we made when we awarded Laura, Amedeo and Sammy of the title Italians of the year of Famiglia Cristiana 2024.
Sammy is life, it’s determination, Sammy is friendship, comfort, Sammy is faith, Sammy is passion. The choir of friends and people who have known is unanimous Sammy low, The young 28 -year -old biologist for pro -beaten and disappeared on 6 October. At the ceremony for the last leave, crowded with moved people, his unique ability to multiply the good, the generosity of mind was the protagonist. When we meet the parents in their home in Tezze sul Brenta, a village in Veneto not far from Vicenza, to deliver the plaque with which we recognize them Together in Sammy Italians of the year 2024 of Famiglia Cristianaconfirm it. «Everything he created around him continues and will continue to be there forever, because Sammy is here with us. We see it in friends who carry on the projects more than before. It is Sammy’s love that generates love ». He himself, recalls his mother Laura, in a sort of letter-heading read to the funeral from the bishop of Vicenza, Giuliano Brugnotto, “he told us:” You love who is around you. Your travel companions are never the vehicle, but the end “. Sammy is there, he remains in everyone’s heart “.
Did you know about this text?
“It was a surprise for us too. Although we talked about anything and we told us everything, Sammy had written some letters in 2017 before the heart operation that he would then face two years later and who had made him understand how serious the situation was. He knew that that intervention, for him, would be a “coin shot” but he had faced him with great courage. Before entering the operating room he had smiled at us and made the sign of the cross on the forehead. This allowed us to live the wait with serenity ».
Who has kept those letters for seven years?
«His physiotherapist and friend Mauro Grande with whom he had a special relationship and shared the search for a profound faith. True. When we called him to tell him that he had missed he told us: “I’m soon for you”, and he gave us the writings ».
More letters: that “testament”, but also one in which he said how his funeral would have liked.
«A beautiful, festive mass. He had come to conceive death not as an end, but as a passage. A new beginning, and that’s why it had to be celebrated ».
A very high idea of death, but also of life.
«Life for him was sacred. Not for nothing he started his greeting by writing “I want you to know first of all that I lived my life happily!”. Sammy did everything he could and more, sometimes even challenging the fate ».
With a respect for life, his and others, profound. Even of the disease.
«He lived on us since he was a child, he grew up knowing what he had and what he waited for him. It is not for nothing that he took leave of saying “many will certainly say that I lost my battle against the disease. Don’t listen! There has never been any battle to fight, there was only a life to embrace for as it was, with its difficulties, but
Although always splendid, still fantastic, nor prize, nor condemns, simply a gift that has been given to me by God “».
It was a gift for you too?
«He was diagnosed with him who was two years old and a month and was a blow. For some time we wondered what we had done to deserve this. Then one day we looked at each other and we understood that we were wrong everything. Sammy had to live a life as normal as possible. He had a heart to rejoice, a remarkable sense of humor. Anyone who laughed a lot with him. He knew how to make fun of his image. He always said: “In the end we are all different and for this we are all the same”. From that moment we have seen life in a totally different way, never taking anything for granted ».
He wore the Tau on his neck. What bond did you have with St. Francis?
“He looked and lived his life in the same way. He didn’t even kill an ant. So with the environment, he had a profound respect for creation. Hence the choice of studies, natural sciences and molecular biology ».
Studies aimed at better understanding your illness?
«He knew everything about his illness, he always learned about it. Above all he knew that prosheria, or early aging, condemns you before the time. But he wanted to do research to help today’s and tomorrow’s children, well aware that he didn’t do it for him because there was no longer time ».
How does the fear manage?
“He won her with prayer. He put everything in the hands of God ».
How did he react to the dramatic facts of the world?
«He was sick, he weighed him not to understand why the human being could reach so much violence. He could not give peace. Two Christmas ago had gone to meet Monsignor Parolin and on that occasion he had told him that he would give himself and his life if he had been helpful for the Holy Land. “If I can do something”, he had confided to him, “you use me” ».
And the meeting with the Holy Father?
«It was short but intense. For Sammy it was a mystical experience. When we entered his office, a very large environment, he saw nothing more than the Pope. The meeting loaded it, Sammy asked him if he could receive a blessing to be expanded to friends and relatives and other patients with progeria. A blessing to share with others ».
Did you talk about God at home?
“Everyday. We are believers, but Sammy really lived it in a daily way and in his way of relating to others. Christmas? For him the solemn mass of December 25 was unmissable, but Christmas lived it every day, as Easter lived every day. We prayed together, but also prayed for themselves. Lately he had an alarm on his cell phone, which reminded him of reading the day. He meditated daily what the Holy Father said. “
Sammy has just missed more than two months. How are you?
“It is more difficult now than the first period. Now we really realize that he is missing. As long as it was with us the house was full of life; Even if it was in the next room, there was energy. Day after day it is missing ».
What are you missing most?
«With Sammy we had the privilege of living a full life, even on a physical level. He was 28 years old, but he was looking for hugs and kisses, he came to sit on my legs (adds Mamma Laura, editor’s note). We are missing pampering. And then, he spoke so much about everything. It was very open. He said serious things, light things, he spoke of faith, he smiled a lot, always. He joked, here he laughed continuously. We miss his eyes because visual contact was also essential during the evenings and hosted them. He asked us so much, our point of view. There has always been the maximum opening. We shared projects and thoughts. He called us a great team. “
What was the secret of your team?
«Sammy’s vitality and dialogue. We have always confided everything. Family dialogue is a force that unites and approaches. Today as before, they support us to tell us everything and faith ».
Sammy’s life has also been full of meetings in schools. What did other guys mean?
«That one must never judge a person for the external appearance and that anyone, if he wants, can do anything. Never to stop. He has always surrounded many people and many friends. He always said: “Much can be done alone, but many objectives can be achieved that they seem impossible alone”. The great the goals has reached them all in company ».
What would you say to those who live the same test?
«That if you close you, you are Isoli. Instead, you have to be crossed by the tests, accept them. If you don’t accept them, you can’t enjoy daily joy ».
While we leave us the parish priest of Tezze reaches us, Don Pietro Savio. “There are those who say” saint immediately “” he tells us. But Sammy is already talking to the heart of many people and will do it for different generations.
