Di Battista set off from Cuba; he is due to return to Rome tomorrow

After two weeks in hospital, Alessandro Di Battista has finally left Cuba to return to Italia. The former Member of Parliament for the Five Star Movement managed to board an air ambulance and is due to arrive in Rome on Saturday 12 September. On 28 August, whilst on the island to prepare a report, the activist suffered severe headaches and was admitted to Santa Clara Hospital, before being transferred – given the seriousness of his condition – to the better-equipped Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital in Havana.

“Welcome back, my brother. We’ll meet up again in Rome in a few hours. Thanks again to all the Cuban doctors who have looked after Alessandro during these endless days.” This is how Luca Di Giuseppe, president of Schierarsi, the association run by the former MP, celebrated the news on his social media channels, also posting a photo of the plane that will take him home.

It had become clear by Thursday night that things were moving in the right direction, with his return to Italia imminent. “We would like to thank the doctors, nurses and physiotherapists who are currently looking after him ahead of his return to Italia,” Schierarsi wrote in a post on Facebook.

This is actually the second attempt to transfer Di Battista to Italia. He was originally due to return to Rome on the afternoon of 5 September, but on the same day Schierarsi announced on Instagram that the return had been postponed, asking ‘everyone to exercise the utmost discretion and caution in sharing information whilst awaiting further updates’. The reason was the need to perform emergency surgery on the former MP.

The return to Italia involves a strict safety protocol dictated by the activist’s health. The air ambulance will have to fly at low altitude to avoid excessive cabin pressurisation and will have to make one or more stopovers. According to reports, upon his arrival, Di Battista is likely to be transferred directly to the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic. A team from the Roman hospital, comprising a neurosurgeon and an intensive care specialist, had travelled to Cuba in recent days to provide him with medical care.