A 72-year-old Italian priest who gave away his ventilator to a younger patient has died from coronavirus

• Parishioners donated a ventilator to Fr. Don Giuseppe Berardelli, the parish priest of Casnigo, Italy, after he was infected with COVID-19.
• Berardelli declined to use the machine and gave it to a younger patient he didn't know.
• The priest has since died from the novel coronavirus.
• Beradelli is among at least 60 priests who have died amid the novel coronavirus outbreak in Italy, which is home to the overall highest death toll of any country thus far.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Parishioners in Casnigo, Italy donated a ventilator to their priest, Fr. Don Giuseppe Berardelli, who was infected with COVID-19.

Berardelli declined to use the breathing apparatus and instead gave it to a younger patient at the same hospital. He died last week.

The Italian media site Araberara reported that there was no funeral for Berardelli.

Beradelli was ordained as a priest on June 30, 1973. Those who knew him told Araberara that he was someone who listened to everyone and who people could turn to for help. He also loved to ride his motorbike, according to the outlet.

Beradelli is among at least 60 Italian priests who have died from the coronavirus, according to the Catholic News Agency. The youngest priest to die was Fr. Paolo Camminati, who died in the hospital on March 21 at age 53, the outlet reported.

Italy has emerged as the European epicenter of the pandemic and remains in a nationwide lockdown in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19.

There are nearly 64,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Italy and more than 6,000 residents have died — the highest death toll of any country thus far. On Saturday, Italy broke its own record death toll for a single day, with 793 COVID-19 deaths over 24 hours.

Source: Read Full Article