All of Italy seems horrified by the tragic
story of 6-year-old Vanessa Moretti's search for help for her dying
father.
The child was riding with her father, Marco
Moretti, 33, on the way from their home near Florence to the beach town of
Monte Argentario on Saturday to begin a vacation. Moretti had a heart attack as the car
entered a tunnel on the "Sun Highway," a main road to central
Italy's beaches. Before collapsing, he pulled over and the girl got
out to seek help. Hundreds of people beginning their own
vacations passed as she stumbled along. She ran into a guard rail and fell
into roadside branches. Scratched, crying and bleeding, she walked
more than a mile and spent a half-hour on the side of the road before any
passing drivers stopped.
The story has outraged many Italians, who
fear it shows they have become selfish and indifferent as their economy
has prospered."We have begun to show the cold,
glacial face that even a few years ago we reproached other, richer
countries for having" columnist Sabin Acquaviva wrote in Milan's
daily Corriere della Sera."Because we have inculcated in people
the philosophy of well-being, we have created egoist, consumers, people
who ultimately are alone and unhappy," he wrote.
Marco Moretti was buried Monday in his
hometown of Pontassieve, Vaness was staying with relatives. |
