"Fight and smile" a story of love and science of two parents who fight and live for Mario, their miracle
"Come on, when is it still missing ?!", "I can't wait to see it", joys "Listen! The first kick ", and surprises" Did you know that you cannot eat raw meat during pregnancy? And that a baby during weaning cannot eat everything? ".
During the nine months of pregnancy, a woman, the bearer of life, is at the peak of her splendor. The countdown is done together with the rest of the family in order to meet "him / her", the little miracle that is forming in her womb.
Unfortunately, however, not all women are always able to carry their pregnancy to term. Chance, misfortune or nature can intrude and block the growth of the little life that was about to be born.
Francesca Fedeli is one of these women. A courageous fighter who after two abortions did not stop and did not give up. Francesca knew that her little miracle was about to arrive, she just had to keep believing and fighting. One day four years ago the good news: she is pregnant.
Nine months of joy and happiness in which she and her husband, Roberto, were in seventh heaven but then, as in the worst of nightmares, the descent into hell. Mario, the newborn child, had suffered a stroke. While she was in the womb? During childbirth? Still not known. It happens to two or three children in a thousand, and all of them suffer from brain damage. In Mario's case, forty percent of the "right hemisphere was" burned ", probably the left side of his body would have been paralyzed.
Francesca and Roberto do not give up and one step at a time they begin their journey together with Mario: lots of physiotherapy, at home and in the hospital, and an experimental program for the activation of mirror neurons. But that wasn't enough. Because Mario didn't look at the exercises. , he looked at his parents, so focused on teaching him "autonomy that they" forgot to transmit the joy of living to him.
So they decide to change perspective: if they wanted the best from Mario, they had to give the best of themselves.Francesca and Roberto thus resume doing with him the beautiful things they loved to do before: traveling, listening to music, reading, hanging out with friends. And he literally stood up step by step and became the smiling child he is today.
We asked Francesca what pushed her to tell her story in a book "Fight and smile". She, as always, with her smile full of empathy and her incredible and contagious will to live in her eyes, explained that she felt the need to tell other parents her story.
"I still had something to say. And to thank. We felt this strong need to go and join other families. It is a book that talks about the common sense of mirror neurons and what we have learned from our history with Mario, starting from when we received the stroke, the 'stroke', passing through the trauma processing in the family and ending with our projects between medicine and technology. And then because the proceeds destined to us from the sale of the book will be completely donated to the Fightthestroke association , yet another way to ensure a better future for young stroke survivors. ".
The story of Francesca and Roberto is not a miracle or a fairy tale: it is an example of what curiosity, courage, love and science can do. For this reason Francesca I wanted to tell it in a book, just as she had told it to with Roberto TED Global of 2013, and from there it went around the world. This book is about the unconditional love of two parents who want the best for their child and strive to have the same opportunities as all other children. A story of courage, determination and love that we are sure will touch everyone's heart.
"We must learn to consider what we have as a gift, what is missing as an opportunity" - Francesca Fedeli.
