Santu Lussurgiu, a book to remember Giovanni Pische

Giovanni Pische loved life even if fate had dealt him a nasty trick. He was a man of great spirit, resolute, with extraordinary vital energy. His candid smile is an indelible memory that sinks into the hearts of the people of Lussurge and those who were lucky enough to know him. Although he was confined to a wheelchair all his life due to a plane crash during the Second World War, Pische always had a smile to give to everyone, a smile full of hope, which instilled courage.

He was a great athlete, a great swimmer. Thanks to the rehabilitation therapy at the Santa Lucia clinic in Rome, he refined his aquatic ability which led him to win the Stoke Mandeville International Games in England in 1961 and three years later the bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics (1964), for which he obtained the title of Grand Knight of the Republic for sporting merits.

Suffering was always close to him but it never affected his strong-willed spirit, his smile and his works in favor of the weakest in this society that does not wait for those in difficulty. His is a story made of commitment towards others and oriented towards the recovery of disabled people through sport but not only. His figure will remain forever imprinted in the Luxurious community, which will in fact remember him on Friday 26 July in the Popular Culture center at 6.30 pm, through the pages of the beautiful book "Giovanni Pische, hero, athlete, master of life" , co-written by two people from Lussurge who have always kept him in their hearts: Bachisio Serra and Francesca Manca. It is an anthology of memories, newspaper articles, stories from friends and the touching testimonies of the athletes who were raised by Pische in the center of Santa Lucia in Rome: Giuseppe Trieste, Claudio Tombolini, MariaPia Vezzaro and Roberto Valori.

A life of service to others, a social commitment of great value and little publicity. If paraplegics can drive cars today it is thanks to him. Pische was the founder of the National Association for the Protection of Handicapped and Invalids. Ludwig Guttmann, creator of the Stoke Mandeville Center for Spinal Diseases, strongly wanted him in the World Sports Council for Paraplegics. With the help of men and some enlightened politicians Giovanni Pische managed to bring sport for the disabled to Sardinia too.

Gianni Minà, his great friend, remembered him: «he taught us to have interests in what shouldn't have been a banal life. A master of life, he was an important Italian, a true Italian to be proud of." Not only Minà, everyone who knew him was able to appreciate his incomparable human qualities.

The two authors wanted to perpetuate his memory by naming the new municipal gym after him in 1999 when they were administrators of the Municipality. The inauguration ceremony saw, among others, the participation of Gianni Minà and Carmelo Addaris, a paraplegic athlete from Cagliari who won multiple medals at the Toronto Olympics in 1976 and was a great friend of Pische.

In 2002 the Elighes Uttiosos Cultural Association of Santu Lussurgiu published his poems in the book "Sul Sentiero delle Stelle", a title taken from one of his most beautiful compositions: The Landing. He never forgot his homeland, although he spent his life far from the island, he often returned to Santu Lussurgiu, and from his parents' welcoming home, in Sa Carrela 'e Nanti, he loved to watch the carnival horse races, as he did as a child full of dreams and desires.

The book will be presented by the two authors, with the participation of Maria Arca president of the UNLA Center for Permanent Education of Santu Lussurgiu, Sandrino Porru president of FISPES, Carmelo Addaris manager of Sa. Spo. Cagliari and some of Giovanni's friends in a video conference.