"They killed my son. I can't accept this." It was a pained and angry outburst from Patrizia, mother of little Domenico Caliendo, the two-year-and-four-month-old boy who died after a heart transplant that was under investigation for an alleged error in transporting the organ, which arrived in the operating room damaged by dry ice.
Speaking on the television program "Dentro la Notizia" on Canale 5, the woman criticized what happened during the crucial hours of the operation: "They played with my son's life. I'm only here to get justice, not to be on television." Then came the bitter conviction: "Domenico could have been saved."
Autopsy and evidentiary hearing tomorrow
The answers to the many questions could arrive within the next few hours. An evidentiary hearing and autopsy on the child's body are scheduled at the morgue of the Second Polyclinic in Naples, a crucial step in the investigation coordinated by the Naples Prosecutor's Office.
At the heart of the investigation are two crucial questions: whether there was scope for a second transplant and whether, in the Monaldi operating room, the head physician proceeded with clamping the aorta and performing a cardiectomy before verifying the actual condition of the heart intended for implantation.
The final procedural hurdle was cleared in the past few hours. Preliminary Investigations Judge Mariano Sorrentino granted the Caliendo family's motion to challenge one of the technical consultants appointed to the panel of experts, replacing him with Professor Ugolini Livi.
The defense's doubts: "We could have followed another path."
"We expect the possibility of a different therapeutic approach to emerge," explains Francesco Petruzzi, the family's lawyer.
According to the defense, little Domenico could have been kept in conditions that would make him eligible for transplantation again when a second compatible organ arrived.
Among the still unclear points is a presumed lesion to the left ventricle, reported in some journalistic reconstructions, and above all the exact time of the aortic clamping.
Not only that. The family is also asking for clarification on the medical records: "We want to know from the prosecutor's office whether the anesthesiology records exist," Petruzzi emphasizes, "because the hospital hasn't sent them to us."
New audio: "The child was heartless for at least 45 minutes."
Meanwhile, further elements are emerging from the analysis of recorded conversations between nurses present in the operating room and acquired as part of the investigation.
The timeline between the removal and the attempted transplant would highlight a dramatic transition: Domenico would have been without a heart for at least 45 minutes.
According to the reconstruction, the new organ arrived at 2:30 PM, when the child's chest had already been emptied. Only at 3:00 PM did the paramedics realize the heart was kept in the box containing dry ice. At 3:14 PM, the attempt to thaw it began, holding the organ under water.
At that point, the transplant had not yet begun.
Funerals awaiting approval
The preliminary hearing also represents the necessary step to allow the return of the body to the family and therefore the celebration of the funeral.
"It's not a given that they'll be held on Wednesday," the lawyer clarifies, "because everything depends on the results of the tests and the time it takes to free the body."
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni may also attend the ceremony, having—according to the lawyer—expressed her willingness to attend, subject to her institutional commitments.
The hospital's response: "Internal investigations started immediately."
Meanwhile, the general director of the Colli Hospital, Anna Iervolino, has also broken her silence, speaking out in a letter to the newspaper Il Mattino.
The manager stresses the timeliness of the internal audits, which began on December 30th, when—she explains—the first doubts that arose within the facility prompted management to consult with the surgeon and the head of the transplant program.
"These were genuine internal interrogations," he emphasizes, "which allowed us to reconstruct the events and understand their gravity." The documents were then transmitted on January 11 to the judicial authorities, as well as to the Campania Region and the Ministry of Health.
A clear response to accusations of alleged cover-up attempts: "Those who speak of cover-ups," he concludes, "are seeking easy consensus."
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
I read the article carefully, but many things remain unclear and more precise clarifications are needed. The family is demanding justice, and the prosecutor's office should conduct a thorough investigation, but there appear to be discrepancies and missing documentation at the hospital. Let's hope the truth emerges soon and everything is clarified without hysteria.