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“We disabled, forced to live on” alms “”

Had it not been for the generosity of two coachbuilders, Signora Maria would not have been able to pay the bills. Hers is a more common story than one might imagine: the single mother of a disabled child, who has a tracheostomy and a peg, lives in an apartment in the Lucento district, in the north of Turin, facing the problem of money every month. it is never enough. Maria also has a disability: the two live off the boy’s disability pension. The overdue bills, about a thousand euros to pay, remained in the drawer. But two coachbuildersDavide Nicoletti and Rosario Castronovo, having become aware of the situation of Maria and her son, they have decided to shoulder the burden of paying them, restoring a little serenity to the woman. A story of hope and selflessness.

Which, however, leaves a bad taste in the mouth of Massimiliano Caramazza, who suffers from SMA, a progressive neurological disease which never allowed him to walk, and which «despite myself, I know what a disabled life means». According to him, that of Maria helped by the coachbuilders not good news. “It would be if this woman had everything she needs, and her neighbors paid her bills because she goes to them, not because she is reduced to despair by a life situation that she has certainly not chosen but which is ” happened “. A society like the Italian one, from a member country of the G7, of the G20, founder of the European Union, is unable to create a welfare worthy of the name. Always minimal figures, which can be integrated with a thousand bonusesagainst bonuses and bonus arcs, passing through dozens of protocols, questions, offices, personnel and parameters that not only change, but are subject to emptying of funds for the creation of others ».

A disabled person is also a sick person but, first of all, he is a person, explains Caramazza. “Does he need assistance?” You have to guarantee it to him, of the quality and for all the hours he needs. Do his family members choose to take care of him and don’t go to work? They must have an income, no one must judge them or review their decision. Do you need aids? They need to be granted and customized, instead we have a new nomenclator approved 5 years ago, but not yet in effect. Institutions begin to stop talking about disabled peoplethinking of them as health cases. If they were treated as people, with needs, desires, rights and dutiesit would be a fantastic start ».

Massimiliano Caramazza, in October, will be 50 years old. “Although, in all these years, I have had the good fortune to know the best of Italian medicine in terms of disability, despite the fact that many doctors and health facilities have helped and directed me, I never am – and I never stress -, managed to have consistent and clear income aid, level and personalized assistance for my disability. Everything is in the hands of my family and the good heart of friends and doctors, in fact ».

For some time now, “without receiving an answer, how does a disabled person in need of 24-hour assistance live on a pension of € 289 and € 522 a month for assistance, in the form of an “attendance allowance” ‘. The questions he poses are thorny. “If no one is there, you can’t work, and if you don’t work, how do you do it? If you work, you can’t even earn more than € 16,000 a year, or your pension is taken away from you. If you are hospitalized for more than 21 consecutive days, you will be asked for your pension back. If you ask for help, you are given, but not always, bonuses for rent, electricity and gas. Alms. You are condemned to live on alms, because you were born sick and not rich“.

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“I’m disabled, but most of all an asshole!”

“Me, a sex assistant, even against the law”

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Source: Vanity Fair

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