He cannot read and write
due to the cognitive deficit caused by brain damage due to an infection contracted in hospital at birth,
but when he opens his mouth to sing
, naturally by heart,
he enchants and leaves you speechless
.
It is the incredible story of
Lea Mininno
who, thanks to her passion for music, managed to record a song called
'I exist'
.
VIDEO PREVIEW - Lea Mininno, can't read and write but here's how she sings
Born in Foggia on April 21, 1986, Lea lives with her parents in San Severo.
The father is an architect;
her mother, a teacher and child nurse, left her job to take care of her daughter full-time when, comparing Lea's behavior with that of her peers, her first, initially inexplicable problems emerged.
"
Only with the passing of the years - says the family - the cause of the cognitive deficit was attributed by the doctors to the Klebsiella infection contracted in the hospital at the time of birth
, together with two other children, who came into the world on the same day. From the earliest seizures moved on to evidence of
brain injury with severe retardation diagnosed as intellectual deficit
."
Lea has always had an incredible attraction for music
, the only passion capable of igniting her enthusiasm.
Since she was a child she has listened to and sang the songs of many artists, gradually focusing on her favorites:
Lucio Battisti, Lucio Dalla, Fabio Concato and Fiorella Mannoia
.
Among the hits of her heart there are also 'Father and son' by
Cat Stevens
, 'Perfect' by
Ed Sheeran
and 'Beautiful' by
Christina Aguilera
.
Lea's sister, Michela, 32, now a civil engineer in Ancona, has a passion for writing which has led her to publish some books.
"I am here too under this sky, perhaps tired or perhaps lost in oblivion", sings Lea Mininno in
'I exist'
.
"Yes I know that I can never talk to you, the words have a meaning inside me. That I live and sing, this story sounds strangely lonely", she continues, with
a great expressive capacity and a soft way of singing
.
"Those everyday to hide the melancholy ... If you get lost inside my eyes in my world I will take you, and you will see what I feel that you won't believe it when you tell it", she sings.
Lea Mininno's recording project gives hope and joy
.
Her story is a fairy tale that goes on.
At a singing competition she is noticed by the singer-songwriter
Ilario de Angelis
who writes the lyrics and music of this song for her which tells her fragility in a poetic way.
The project involves the arranger and artistic producer
Edgardo
Caputo of the Edrecords Studio in San Severo and the guitarist Riccardo Rubino.
The musical support, but above all the emotional one, creates the conditions for this surprising project, on the eve of the Christmas holidays (the song 'Esisto' by Lea Mininno will be released on December 20 on the main platforms).
The same Caputo-De Angelis couple created, a few months ago,
another musical miracle with Simone Maghernino, a boy with autism
, who, again in San Severo, crowned his dream of recording a single entitled
'Ali in tasca'
.
While there is much talk of integration and equal opportunities, projects like these, made of patience and love, demonstrate that, by identifying and supporting the capacities that can be found in disabled or 'special' people, it is not only possible to give meaning and fullness to their life, making it dignified and satisfying, but also the opportunity for social relationships that guarantee inclusion, defeating marginalization.
Edgardo Caputo explains: "
I built the production of the song and chose the sounds of 'I exist' around Lea's particularly soft and sweet voice
. The atmospheres are intimate and delicate but I also wanted to add more energetic nuances because the text at the bottom tells of
a passionate and hopeful cry
.
Ilario De Angelis talks about
music therapy
because, he explains, "these notes can help overcome any barrier".
For Lea's parents, the worry is the "after us".
The father is dedicating himself to the project of an eco-sustainable village and to the study of radical transformations on the city with more attention to fragile people.