Vinicio Riva, the man suffering from von Recklinghausen's disease who in November 2013, during an audience in the Vatican, was hugged and caressed for a long time by Pope Francis, has died at the age of 63: an image that went around the world .
The disease he suffered from, also known as neurofibromatosis type 1, had disfigured his face. It is a genetic pathology that affects, in a more or less aggressive form, one person in three thousand.
Riva, originally from Isola Vicentina, had suffered from it since adolescence. The growths covering his entire head and face.
“In a world in which the pursuit of external perfection seems to be essential, Vinicio was a model in the expression of great values and human relationships in illness, even the most disfiguring one, as in his case,” he wrote on social media the president of the Veneto Region Luca Zaia.
Pope Francis had wanted to hug and kiss him during the general audience on November 6, 2013. The images of their embrace had moved the world. Even the American one CNN she had taken care of his story. “When he saw us, the Pope was silent: he took Vinicius and hugged him tightly to his chest. He didn't say a word but he gave me a very intense look,” Aunt Caterina told The Vicenza Newspaper.
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