In December 1992, when his story moved Italy for awakening from a coma to the notes of Antonello Venditti's song "Tell me what is it", Gianluca Sciortino was only 10 years old.
Today he is a man, a singer-songwriter engaged in social work with music therapy.
An only child, a few weeks ago, Gerarda lost, the courageous mother told in a successful fiction by Rai1, 'In the name of the son', torn from life 40 days after the diagnosis of a tumor.
Gianluca wrote a song for her called "Warrior" (VIDEO)
in which he expresses all his love and gratitude towards those who gave him, together with his father Pino, his life twice.
Sciortino's is an exemplary story of hopes, expectations, disappointments but also the story of an incredible mother-child relationship and of a family suddenly overwhelmed by serious illness and by the struggle to painstakingly regain a life as normal as possible.
VIDEO
"Many doctors did not believe in my awakening and said that, even if I survived, I would remain a vegetable", recalls Gianluca at the conclusion of his concerts.
"When our son was very ill - said Gerarda in the hot days of the Eluana Englaro story - my husband and I thought we would accept the awakening even if he had kept only a tenth of his potential. I would have remained close to Gianluca all my life anyway because we are religious and for us life is only in the hands of God. We believe - said Gerarda - that, although rare, miracles do exist and Gianluca is our miracle. ''
Now that the mother is gone, Gianluca and the father carry on the commitment started with Gerarda to help those who find themselves living a dramatic situation similar to theirs.
He woke up from his coma listening to Venditti, a song for his dead mother - 'Warrior' VIDEO
THE STORY OF SCIORTINO A 'MIXER' BY GIOVANNI MINOLI