Roxana Badaloni
08/23/2021 1:45 PM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 08/23/2021 1:51 PM
Two hands shake in front of a bed in the ward for coronavirus patients at the University Hospital of Mendoza.
It is the intimate, moving farewell of
a retired couple who shared 60 years
and formed a family with 28 members, including children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
In a short video that shocks,
Rodolfo Rogelio Rocha (87) appears
, in his last days of life after having contracted Covid-19.
He is in a bed for patients with the pandemic and by his side, his wife
Ana María Pérez (76)
, who suffers from Alzheimer's.
She was taken to the hospital by a daughter and a grandson, in a wheelchair, to see her loved one.
Rodolfo is assisted with oxygen.
Ana María stretches her arm.
They hold hands, look at each other tenderly, sobs are heard
.
He sits up in bed and with his last strength, caresses her and promises to return home soon to continue caring for her and help her with her degenerative disease.
Rodolfo Rogelio Rocha and Ana María Perez de Rocha (78) hold hands in their last meeting.
The video, published by the Mdz newspaper and recorded with his phone by Gustavo Nardi (36), the grandson of Rodolfo and Ana María, went viral.
"When the doctor confirmed that the bilateral pneumonia that my grandfather had was irreversible, we asked for authorization so that he could
say goodbye to my grandmother,
" Gustavo tells
Clarín
.
Rodolfo and Ana María surrounded by the family they formed over 60 years.
Rodolfo, retired from the Navy, writer and diving expert, had
been caring for his wife
for
six years
, since she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
“He studied the disease a lot and how to
improve the quality of life
of those who see their neurological system deteriorated by this disease.
He got to write
a book
on the subject ”, explains the grandson.
Rodolfo Rogelio Rocha was a professional diver on rescue missions.
Last July, Rodolfo caught the coronavirus at his home in El Bermejo, Guaymallén, and was admitted to the University hospital in the city of Mendoza.
At night, says the grandson, he missed holding his wife's hand to fall asleep as he used to at home.
Ana María Perez de Rocha was a teacher and director of schools.
Today he is 76 years old.
When Rogelio's diagnosis of a lung condition due to Covid was irreversible, his three daughters, Susana, Cristina and Roxana, requested authorization at the hospital so that the couple could say goodbye.
The meeting lasted about
40 minutes
.
"My grandfather was excited, he told him that he was going to come home soon and he was going to help my grandmother walk, who is in a wheelchair," Gustavo recalls.
And he retains every moment of the last meeting: “We went to look for my grandmother with my aunt.
We took the elevator up to the room where my grandfather was.
We bring her to the bed in her wheelchair and they hold hands.
They looked at each other, at first without speaking, they
just smiled
”.
Gustavo took a few steps back and began to film them, but his pulse trembled, tears fell and he could barely maintain focus for 10 seconds, enough to show the purity of love.
The last meeting took place days before Rodolfo Rogelio Rocha died of coronavirus.
They shared 60 years as a married couple, inseparable.
Ana María worked as a
teacher and director of schools
and Rodolfo, as
a professional diver
on rescue missions.
In a family business, the couple created a publishing house, where Rodolfo enjoyed researching, writing and publishing books about his activity as a diver, tourist circuits and adventure sports.
“He was one of the first divers to dive into the Pozo de las Ánimas, in Malargüe.
In 1992, he recounted the details of that adventure in the book Pozo de las Ánimas: A Mystery Unveiled, ”says his grandson.
Ana María Perez de Rocha, in a photo from her youth.
Even after retiring, Rodolfo
continued to investigate and collaborate with rescues
.
He had a water drone and a tablet with which he rehearsed how to inspect reservoirs, caves and lakes.
Since Ana María fell ill, he devoted most of the day to caring for her with devotion.
"I don't know if I could have endured seeing her die,"
admits the grandson.
Rodolfo Rogelio Rocha was a diver and wrote a book about his great passion.
And he returns to the story of the last meeting: "We left them alone and stared at each other from afar. They looked at each other, caressed each other. At first no one could speak and my grandfather began to tell her that he would soon return home, that he was going to help her do the exercises. to walk again, that I was going to be able to get out of the wheelchair. "
It was 40 minutes, of caresses, sighs of love and eternal union.
A week later, on August 3,
Rodolfo passed away
.
Mendoza. Correspondent.
DD
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