Bacoli – Illness has outpaced solidarity. Carmela Hanuman, 52, died yesterday after a long battle with cancer, just as social media began to share her heartbreaking plea, launched just three days earlier.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Carmen, a cancer patient in Naples, condemned to chemotherapy and experimental treatments. There is hope, but it's very expensive. Help me live. I'm 50 years old and I want to live," she wrote in a post that began to mobilize hundreds of people.
Carmela—known to all as Carmela—fought until her last breath in a bed at the Santa Maria delle Grazie hospital in Pozzuoli, where she had been hospitalized for some time.
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Despite her progressive debilitation, the woman managed to share in the family's joys, albeit from a hospital bed. Just five days ago, she celebrated her son Manuel's birthday, in a heartbreaking yet normal image of affection that the boy himself shared online. "An unexpected birthday," he wrote, "but with you by my side, it's the most beautiful celebration I could have." A photo shows them together, on the hospital bed, a last, precious glimpse of life before the darkness.
The wave of emotion on social media
The news of her passing, which broke yesterday, sparked a wave of emotion on social media, where many, even those who hadn't met her personally, were touched by her cry for help. "What a great woman...what a warrior...my heart goes out to her family," Annamaria wrote in one of the many messages of condolence flooding the web.
Carmela leaves behind her husband, Fulvio, the owner of a renovation company, and three children, including Manuel. The funeral will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, October 14, at the Parish of Sant'Anna in Bacoli. A community prepares to bid farewell to a woman whose final, courageous plea sadly went unanswered, symbolizing the plight of so many patients forced to search online for the hope that the system is not always able to provide in time.
Comments (1)
It's sad to see such a strong woman fail to overcome her illness. I hope her cry for help can help us all understand the importance of helping those in need. Life is unfair.