Giacomo Perini, The night has stopped frightening

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 08 -

A breathtaking race in life, to fully enjoy it, despite everything: thus, without ever losing sight of the goal of being happy, Giacomo Perini has chosen to face the difficulties put in his way by an unjust destiny, a vital obstinacy that he told in the book "The night has stopped frightening", published by Santelli and available from 6 May.

Giacomo's story begins in 2014: he is 18 years old and is about to begin his last year of high school when he receives the tragic and unexpected news of having a rare malignant tumor, osteosarcoma, which struck him in the leg and against which he must fight without wasting a minute. For him, who planned a future as an athlete thanks to his passion for horseback riding, always busy with training with his horse, competitions and projects to be built, the disease is more than a setback in an already well-defined path, but it can represent the end because life is at stake. From the diagnosis begins a long path of struggle and suffering: the young man undergoes many therapies and various interventions that then culminate with the amputation of the leg. But this is only the first part of Giacomo's life, who, with his illness,learn about a new self.

In the book there is the story of his story, of his dreams of when he could still lead a normal life and of the forced change to which he had to adapt but which was the source of an unknown force for him: alternating news and reflections on pages visionary, the author reveals in intense and sincere pages the secret of his rebirth, of that limpid light that comes from within and sets the course when everything around is dark. While the darkness of the tunnel that the tumor forced him to go through seemed really impenetrable, dense, full of nightmares and demons, Giacomo realized that he could try to walk lighter, without unnecessary ballast, aiming for the most important thing: not only survive, but live a rich and exciting life, in theintimate conviction of deserving that much-coveted future of happiness and fulfillment. The first step was for him not to identify with his pathology, but to commit himself with all his heart not to let her win. Then he resumed studying, now he works at Coni for Fitri and has managed to preserve his passion for sport, becoming an athlete of the Paralympic rowing team.

However, all this was not enough for Giacomo, because he understood that his experience, of pain and rebirth, could be an example to other young people like him, not only to those who are sick or disabled, but to all those who are faced with a problem feel helpless and with no way out. And here his story of resilience has become an occasion of commitment for others: as a witness of vitality and courage, this young man shared what he experienced in the theater, in the cinema, in person in schools, as a representative of athletes in the Lazio Paralympic Committee, on the mass media, on social media and now also in your book His commitment has not gone unnoticed, so much so that in 2019 he was appointed Knight of the Republic by President Sergio Mattarella.